News

The right to request flexible work arrangements is set to become a reality this year for Irish workers as the EU’s Work Life Balance Directive must be implemented by the Government by October this year. The EU Directive means that employees who are in a caring role such as parents or carers will have the […]

Ireland’s mortgage rates for new loans remained the second highest in the euro area in November, according to the Central Bank. Greece had the highest rates in the euro area. The weighted average interest rate on new mortgages was 2.7% in November, a reduction of 8 basis points or 0.08%, on November 2020. The euro […]

The unemployment rate, adjusted to include those on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), rose to 7.5% in December compared to 6.9% in November. The traditional seasonally adjusted monthly unemployment rate fell from 5.2% or 135,000 people in November to 5.1% or 132,100 people in December, the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show today. […]

The rate at which the price of used cars is increasing has reached a new high, driven by the supply shortages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. In the last three months of the year, the inflation rate for used cars grew a further 7.7%, the second highest quarterly price rise since 2011, according […]

The average take home pay of workers on the minimum wage increased over the years from 2016-2018, according to new research from the Economic and Social Research Institute. The report also finds that the hours worked by some on the minimum wage, fell by almost one hour per week. But the increase in the minimum […]

Almost 5,000 mortgages were approved in November, up 8.6% on the previous month but down 4.6% on the same time last year. New figures from Banking and Payments Federation Ireland reveal that over half of all mortgages approved during the month were for First Time Buyers (FTBs), while mover purchasers accounted for just under 28%. […]

Only one in 10 World Economic Forum members surveyed expects the global recovery to accelerate over the next three years, a poll of nearly 1,000 business, government and academic leaders found, with only one in six optimistic about the world outlook. Climate change was seen as the number one danger by respondents in the WEF’s […]

Thousands of public servants will have their working hours reduced back to lower pre-austerity levels from 1 July, if a recommendation made by an independent body examining the issue is accepted by the Government. Extra working hours were introduced for the public servants under the 2013 Haddington Road Agreement. The mechanism of additional hours was […]

New figures show that the value of the grocery market declined by 5.2% to €3.1 billion during the 12 weeks to December 26 as the market faced a tough comparison against record sales in 2020. But Kantar said that sales have grown by 10.9% compared to the same time in 2019. A total of €1.1 […]

Confidence among small businesses took a hit amid a new round of restrictions on hospitality venues which were introduced just before Christmas. The Small Firms Association said that 41% saw the business environment improving in winter 2021 compared to 55% last Summer. Many businesses are also dealing with increased costs and supply chain delays, which […]