News

An increase of €10 per week in core social welfare rates, enhancing the support grant for carers and a single rate state pension are among the measures being called for by Social Justice Ireland in its pre-Budget submission. As well as increasing welfare payments, SJI is urging the Government to commit to benchmarking core social […]

Fáilte Ireland is launching a campaign aimed at attracting workers into the tourism and hospitality industry. The recruitment marketing and awareness campaign is targetted at both jobseekers and businesses. Around nine out of every ten businesses in the sector say they have had difficulty in recruiting new staff with just over two thirds saying they […]

The Irish services sector continued to grow strongly in August, according to AIB’s Purchasing Managers’ Index. The monthly measure of activity in the sector shows further rapid increases in both new and outstanding business last month. While total services output expanded at a slower rate than in July, it was still the second-strongest since the […]

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the economy – as measured by Gross Domestic Product – grew by 6.3% in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the first three months of the year. On an annual basis, GDP showed growth of 21.6% in the second quarter, the CSO said, as the […]

The Government will today launch its housing plan titled Housing for All, with the multi-billion euro strategy set to detail guaranteed spending plans for the next five years. Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien is also expected to announce planning exemptions to develop homes above shop and business premises. The long-awaited plan commits to a €4 […]

The Governor of the Central Bank has warned that higher debt and deficit projections out to the middle of the decade increase the risks to the public finances and the economy. In a pre-budget letter to the Minister for Finance, Gabriel Makhlouf refers to the revised projections for the public finances in the Summer Economic […]

The unemployment rate, when adjusted to include those on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment, stood at 12.4% in August. The latest release from the Central Statistics Office shows the jobless rate fell from 13.5% in July and compares to 17.1% the same time last year. The CSO said the seasonally adjusted traditional rate of unemployment was […]

Irish factory activity lost some momentum in August with growth in output, new orders, exports and purchasing all lower than the previous month, a survey showed today. The AIB IHS Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 62.8 in August. This marked the fourth highest reading since the survey began in 1998 but lower […]

There’s been a general welcome for the measures announced by the Taoiseach about the next phase of reopening of the economy and society. Business group Ibec said the announcement provided clarity on the timeline for a phased and safe return to offices. The roadmap would provide added momentum to what has already been a very […]

The Restaurants Association gave a cautious welcome to the Taoiseach’s announcement on the easing of Covid restrictions. Chief executive Adrian Cummins said the measures went a long way towards outlining a roadmap for the sector with the provision of key dates, metrics and targets. However, he said there was more work to be done regarding […]