Category: Syndicated

A PRESSURE group is set to launch in the coming week to fight for changes to ensure lower insurance costs for businesses. The Alliance for Insurance Reform is set to be revived a decade-and-a-half after it was successful in bringing about huge changes. The venture is again being spearheaded by Supermac’s owner Pat McDonagh, amid […]

A leading Irish supermarket has confirmed it will pay all staff the so-called ‘living-wage’ of €11.70 an hour. German supermarket retailer Aldi has the new minimum rate of pay for its Irish staff. The rate of pay matches the living wage rate recommended by the Living Wage Technical Group, and makes Aldi the first supermarket […]

The number of people employed in multinationals has reached a record high of over 210,000, the IDA has said. The figure for 2017 surpasses the overall five-year target of 209,000, which was set in 2015 as part of the agency’s strategy out to 2019. The number of new investments totalled 237. Some 19,851 new jobs […]

The services sector has enjoyed a strong finish to 2017, according to the latest Investec Services PMI Ireland report. The headline PMI strengthened to 60.4 in December, an eight month high, from November’s 56.0 outturn. Any mark over 50 is deemed growth. The improvement appears to have been domestically-driven, as the new export orders component […]

The tax take for last year reached a record high of just over €50bn. The State took in €2.87bn more in taxes last year than had been initially expected. The figures were further boosted by the one-off sale of AIB shares, according to the Exchequer Returns published last night. The State’s tax income is now […]

“Mega” offshore wind projects off Ireland’s coast will require increased investment in the country’s port infrastructure, according to a Dublin-based consultant engineering group. GDG (Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions) is currently working with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland on a gap analysis designed to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the offshore renewable-energy supply chain […]

Ireland has risen two places in a global economic ranking, but is expected to fall over the next decade as Asian economies leapfrog those in the west. The index by the London-based think tank Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) ranks Ireland 33rd in the world out of 192, up from 35th place last […]

The National Treasury Management Agency’s (NTMA) charge out of the traps, expected as early as this morning, will test the market in more ways than one. Wholesale regulatory changes, collected into the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive or Mifid II, come into effect across Europe today and, at a purely technical level, both human and […]

European finance has been abuzz over an obscure acronym – MiFID II – set to radically change how assets from stocks to commodities are traded and investors’ money is managed. EU firms have spent more than €1.6bn preparing for it. Regulators say it will protect investors, boost transparency and rebuild trust tarnished by the crash. […]

Technology rules our lives these days. So what will 2018 bring? Here are five things to expect over the next 12 months. 1. Your face will replace your password For a decade, we’ve been wondering when a ‘Minority Report’-style facial-recognition service might arrive into the mainstream. With the arrival of Apple’s latest iPhone X here […]