News

Annual wholesale electricity prices up 86% – CSO

Wholesale prices and the price of raw materials for manufacturing businesses rose at an annual rate of 6.2% in July, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office. However, the price of food ingredients, construction materials and energy all rose significantly more. Overall, food product ingredients rose 10.8% in the year to July, […]

Continue Reading

Oil climbs as Saudi Arabia warns of OPEC output cuts

Oil rose today as renewed concerns over tight supply dominated market sentiment after Saudi Arabia warned that the major oil producer could cut output to correct a recent oil price decline. Brent crude gained 42 cents, or 0.4%, to $96.90 a barrel in early trade, after a choppy session yesterday when they dropped by more […]

Continue Reading

Euro falls to new two-decade low against the dollar

The euro dropped to a fresh two-decade trough today as Europe was buffeted by concerns about energy supply and economic growth, while the dollar held firm against major peers, supported by safe-haven flows. The euro hit $0.9909, its lowest since late 2002, and was last down 0.29% at $0.9914. Russia will halt natural gas supplies […]

Continue Reading

Government seeking return of €34m in PUP over-payments

The Government is seeking the return of almost €34m which was wrongly claimed in Pandemic Unemployment Payments (PUP) at the height of the Covid-19 outbreak. The Department of Social Protection told RTÉ’s This Week programme that, up to the end of July, just over 18,700 Pandemic Unemployment Payment over-payments were recorded to a value of […]

Continue Reading

No small thing: The growing value of microtransactions

Having once been the butt of the joke amongst gamers, microtransactions have grown into a multi-billion dollar industry. Today, some of the most popular games in the world are built almost entirely on the model – as well as countless smartphone and tablet apps. But they’ve proven controversial too, with critics saying they encourage bad […]

Continue Reading

Electricity customers may be charged more from 5-7pm

Electricity supply companies may be charged more for their customers to use electricity between the hours of 5pm to 7pm. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has launched a two-week consultation asking industry and electricity providers how they intend to reduce energy usage. Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, ESRI economist Dr Muireann Lynch said […]

Continue Reading

M50 toll income rose 13% last year as traffic recovered

Toll income on the country’s busiest road, the M50, surged 13% to €140 million last year as traffic volumes recovered from the early phases of the pandemic. The 2021 annual report by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) shows however that the €140 million in toll income – which includes €7.5 million in penalty income – falls […]

Continue Reading

Euro zone inflation reaches record high of 8.9%

Euro zone inflation reached a new record high of 8.9% year-on-year in July, the EU’s statistics office has confirmed, with the core measure, excluding the most volatile components and key for monetary policy, also sharply up. The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said consumer prices in the 19 countries using the euro rose 0.1% month-on-month […]

Continue Reading

Electricity supply companies may be charged more between 5pm-7pm – ESRI

Electricity supply companies may be charged more for their customers to use electricity between the hours of 5pm to 7pm, according to the Economic and Social Research Institute. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has launched a two-week consultation asking industry and electricity providers how they intend to reduce energy usage. Speaking on RTÉ’s […]

Continue Reading

Personal loan drawdowns jump by 20% – BPFI

The value of personal loan drawdowns increased by 20.1% in the second quarter of this year to €414 million, compared to the second quarter of last year. The report on personal loans by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland shows continued strong growth in activity, the most since the data series began in 2020. On an […]

Continue Reading