News

Rents up over 10% in final quarter of last year, Daft report reveals

Rents nationally rose at an annual rate of just over 10% in the last three months of last year, according to listed rent prices compiled by the property website Daft.ie. On a quarterly basis, rents rose in the Dublin area by just over 4% compared to just 0.5% in Munster. This is a reversal of […]

Continue Reading

Sick pay plan approved by Oireachtas committee

A Government plan to give all workers the right to paid sick leave has been approved by the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The committee is recommending that all employees be entitled to the right of statutory sick pay to ensure workers on all forms of employment contracts receive the same protections. The […]

Continue Reading

Personal loans for home improvements jump 25% in 2021

Over 43,000 personal loans for home improvements were drawn down last year, up almost 25% on the previous year. New figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland reveal that these loans were worth €462 million. The average home improvement loan was €9,748 in the final quarter of 2021, down from €10,899 on the fourth quarter […]

Continue Reading

4,500 companies saved from going bust during pandemic

Government pandemic supports saved at least 4,500 Irish companies from going bust – an average of 50 companies every week, according to analysis by PwC which feature in a report ‘Act Now: From recovery to growth’. The author of the report said that while the businesses avoided insolvency, they will need further support to repair […]

Continue Reading

Grocery price inflation hits highest level since October 2020

New data show that household budgets are coming under pressure as grocery price inflation reached its highest level since October 2020 at 1.7% in the 12 weeks to January 23. The data from Kantar show that the number of products being sold on promotion has dropped by 3% compared with last January. Kantar also said […]

Continue Reading

ECB’s Lagarde downplays inflation concerns

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde appeared to downplay inflation concerns today, arguing that price pressures could still subside before becoming entrenched and high energy costs would be a drag on prices further out. Pointing to mounting inflation risks, the ECB opened the door last week to an interest rate hike later in 2022 and […]

Continue Reading

Road traffic numbers hit pre-pandemic levels, but fewer use public transport

The number of cars on Irish roads has hit pre-pandemic levels, but there are fewer people travelling on public transport. This comes as ESRI behavioural research shows that while public levels of worry over contracting Covid-19 are decreasing, people consider public transport as a “high risk” activity when it comes to catching the virus. Data […]

Continue Reading

Spending in bars more than trebled as Covid restrictions eased

New figures show that spending in pubs and bars more than tripled on the day Covid-19 restrictions on socialising were eased. The latest Revolut Spending Report shows that the amount of money spent in bars was 212% higher on January 22 than it had been the day before, when the 8pm curfew was still in […]

Continue Reading

Govt looking at ‘range of charges’ over cost of living

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said the Government will look to see what it can do to alleviate pressure quickly on those who are hardest hit by inflation. He said this is “not going to be a mini-budget” but it will look at a range of charges from health to transport to see what it can […]

Continue Reading

Banking staff trained to spot signs of financial abuse

Banking staff nationwide are being trained to spot the signs of financial abuse and coercive control. The move follows research which found that over 20% of women aged 18 to 34 do not have control of their finances. The Banking & Payments Federation of Ireland says younger women also find it difficult to collect money […]

Continue Reading