News

Changes to the Central Bank’s Consumer Protection Code, which aim to increase the levels of mortgage switching in Ireland and to provide greater levels of transparency for consumers, come into effect today. The changes, which were announced in June, follow research by the Central Bank in 2015 which found over one fifth of borrowers could […]

New car sales were 4.4% lower last year when compared to 2017, according to figures from representative body SIMI, marking the second consecutive year of decline for the industry. There were 125,557 new cars registered during 2018, 5,775 fewer than in the previous year. Compared to 2016, car registrations are 21,093 (14.4%) lower. According to […]

EU triggers plan to protect EU citizens in the event of a no-deal Brexit Plans cover 14 areas most likely to be affected, ranging from financial services to aviation, customs and carbon emissions trading Irish Government prepares to publish its own no-deal contingency plans Varadkar insists Brexit won’t affect budget plans The European Commission has […]

The number of family homes being repossessed has fallen, with the improving economy helping to cut the number of mortgages in arrears. New Central Bank figures show 191 homes were repossessed in July to September, down from 292 in April to June. The vast bulk of the repossessions are carried out by banks, the figures […]

Retailers have blamed “alarmist” Met Eireann weather warnings for deterring people from hitting the high streets to do their Christmas shopping. Industry representative group Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) said trading over the Christmas period had been challenging. “It very much looks like the Irish Retail Industry will trade on par with Christmas 2017, at best,” […]

A group of Anglo Irish Bank bondholders are set to be paid all of the €267m they are seeking from liquidators of the bust bank, despite the State only getting a fraction of the €30bn it invested as a rescue attempt. The remains of Anglo are in the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), where liquidators […]

Household incomes have gone up, but large numbers of people are still in poverty. The typical Irish household had an income of €20,800 last year, a rise of €500 on the previous year. However, thousands of people continue to struggle with poverty, despite many of them having jobs, with the number of ‘working poor’ higher […]

The SME sector is set for a €75m cash injection via a State lender, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI). The SBCI was set up to ensure favourable loan rates reached SMEs, by funnelling State-sourced money through banks and other lenders, who could then pass on the benefits. The €75m package is going to […]

Irish households are set to spend €1bn on groceries this December for the first time. Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said Christmas day falling on a Tuesday will give retailers a festive bonus. “As the 25 December fell on a Monday last year, Friday and Saturday were the two biggest trading days for the major grocers. […]

Just how tough the present day has become for print US newspapers was underlined by some new research on news consumption in that market. According to the Pew Research Centre, social media platforms have now overtaken print newspapers as a news source for Americans – 20pc of US adults say they often get news via […]