News

The National Treasury Management Agency has raised €3.5 billion through the sale of a new 20-year bond. The bond, which matures in April 2041, was sold at an interest rate of 0.585%. The NTMA said it received orders worth more than €35 billion as part of the sales process. It brings to €10.5 billion the […]

Trade with Great Britain continued to decline in February, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office. Imports of goods from Britain were down €742m, or 53%, in February compared to February last year. This was an easing on the 65% year-on-year fall in January when new post-Brexit trade barriers came into force. […]

The Government has formally authorised the Low Pay Commission to investigate how Ireland can move towards a living wage, and must report in the second half of this year. Last year’s Programme for Government committed to move the wages floor from the current national minimum wage of €10.20 per hour to a living wage of […]

New figures show that digital advertising spend in the Irish market reached €726m last year, up 8% compared to 2019. The latest IAB PwC Online Adspend report shows that online display advertising grew 12% to €367m in 2020, with social and video the primary drivers. Search advertising grew by 5% to €321m. The figures show […]

The International Monetary Fund has said Europe’s economy should rebound this year but recovery across the region remains uneven. The IMF is also calling for a “new social contract” to address inequality. In its Regional Economic Outlook for Europe published today, the IMF forecasts that growth this year will be 4.5%. This is slightly less […]

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe will publish the Stability Programme Update later today which will set out new deficit and growth targets for the economy. RTÉ News understands it will project growth of 4.5% in the economy this year, with a budget deficit equal to 4.7% of Gross Domestic Product, but much of this will […]

Penalties for employers who intentionally misclassify workers as self-employed, resulting in the loss of PRSI and employment rights entitlements, should be explored by the Department of Social Protection, according to a draft Oireachtas Committee report. The confidential report also recommends exclusion of such employers from government public procurement contracts, targeted inspections, and anti-victimisation legislation for […]

Provisional figures from the Central Statistics Office published today show the deficit in the public finances was €18.4 billion last year, which represented 5% of GDP. This is an improvement on the Budget Day forecast deficit of €21.6 billion. The national debt stood last year at €218.2 billion or 59.5% of GDP. This was up […]

The Government has reminded employers that all staff should continue to work from home, if possible. As some Level 5 restrictions eased yesterday, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar said employers and staff should remember that there has been no change to the official advice to continue to work from […]

The number of people due to receive the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) this week is down 15,776 on last week. 421,373 people will get a total of €125.52m in PUP payments. A further 183,096 were also on the Live Register at the end of March in receipt of other forms of unemployment assistance. The largest […]