Author: splash

Annual inflation rate up slightly to 6.4% in September – CSO

The annual rate of inflation rose again in September to 6.4% compared to an annual rate of 6.3% in August, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show today. The main drivers of inflation last month were increases in mortgage interest payments, clothing and footwear and home heating oil. Mortgage interest payments rose by 6.3% […]

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Online payments continue to grow, cheque payments drop further

Online and mobile banking payments are continuing to grow in the country while usage of cheques has dropped to the lowest level since 2008. That is according to latest figures from the payments monitor of Banking & Payments Federation Ireland. It finds online and mobile banking payments have jumped 60% since 2018, while the use […]

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Budget benefited lower income groups proportionately more – ESRI

The Economic and Social Research Institute has said Tuesday’s Budget was “progressive”, meaning lower income groups will benefit proportionately more than higher income groups. However, the ESRI says the reduction in the At Risk Of Poverty (AROP) rate amongst most groups will only be achieved through the once-off measures contained in the Budget. It points […]

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Used car price inflation rises to 3.3% in third quarter

The rate of inflation in the used car market was 3.3% in the period from July to the end of September, up from 0.9% in the previous quarter. The DoneDeal Car Price Index shows the annual rate of car price inflation is now at its lowest level since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when […]

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Number of insurance firms in Ireland down 39% since 2009

The number of insurance and reinsurance businesses based in Ireland has fallen 39% since 2009, a new study has found. Life companies have dropped by 42% over the period and non-life firms by 29%, while the volume of re-insurers has decreased by 47%. On top of that the largest international non-life companies and one of […]

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€1.17bn allocated to Arts, Sport and Media in budget

The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin has announced details of the €1.17 billion in funding allocated to the department in Budget 2024. Measures include a €1.9m pilot initiative to support regional arts infrastructure to meet their building and equipment needs, increased funding for national sporting organisations and for high-performance […]

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Banking levy increased in Budget 2024

Ireland will revise how it calculates its levy on banks after announcing plans to raise €200m from the measure next year, up from €87m in 2023, Finance Minister Michael McGrath said today. The levy previously raised a flat €150m a year after its introduction following the banking crisis a decade ago. But that fell last […]

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Budget 2024 won’t overheat the economy – Varadkar

Some Budget 2024 measures came into force at midnight, after the Dáil voted to increase tobacco duties and also maintain the lower VAT rate on household energy bills. While the vote means pending excise increases on petrol and diesel have been deferred until next year, forecourt fuel prices increased overnight due to a hike in […]

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Some Budget measures in force with fuel prices up since midnight

Some of the Budget 2024 measures came into force at midnight after the Dáil voted to increase tobacco duties and maintain the lower VAT rate on household energy bills. While the vote means pending excise increases on petrol and diesel have been deferred until next year, fuel prices at petrol and diesel pumps went up […]

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Over 2.4m people have private health insurance, up 3%

The number of people with private health insurance at the end of last year rose by 3% compared to a year earlier. 2.44m customers had health insurance policies at the end of December, representing 47.6% of the population. Total premium income fell slightly over the year and now stands at €2.93bn, as a result of […]

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