News

State-owned lender AIB has set aside €190m to compensate customers who were wrongly removed from tracker mortgages, according to The Irish Examiner. AIB has reportedly also admitted it wrongly withdrew tracker mortgages from over 3,000 customers, confirmed that 14 people lost their homes as a result of the error. The Oireachtas Finance Committee heard in […]

More than 25 applications are being made every hour by first-time buyers (FTBs) hoping to avail of a Government scheme to help them buy a home. Figures from the Revenue Commissioners show that 519 people have applied for a Government incentive to help them secure a deposit under the Help-to-Buy scheme since it was launched […]

The tax take for last year reached a “historic high”, Finance Minister Michael Noonan has revealed. At €47.86bn, it surpassed the previous peak in 2007. While it was €639m above the target set when Budget 2016 was announced over a year ago, it came in slightly lower than the updated forecast announced when Budget 2017 […]

THE growth of digital shopping across the EU continues unabated with an ever-increasing number of people now shopping online, according to a recent survey from Eurostat. Two thirds of internet users made an online purchase in 2016, according to the data. However, the percentages differ vastly across the continent, with 87pc of internet users in […]

The tax take for last year reached a “historic high”, Finance Minister Michael Noonan has revealed. At €47.86bn, it surpassed the previous peak in 2007. While it was €639m above the target set when Budget 2016 was announced over a year ago, it came in slightly lower than the updated forecast announced when Budget 2017 […]

After a roller-coaster 2016, suddenly the New Year is here. What surprises will it bring? After Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, it’s anybody’s guess. One thing you can control is how you plan your finances to make sure 2017 is a little easier on the pocket. Here are my top 10 tips to get […]

Hopeful house buyers “will find it tough to find something”, according to a leading expert on the property market. Economist at Trinity College, Ronan Lyons, predicts that house prices will continue to rise between 5pc and 10pc over the next 18 months. However, house prices in the capital have risen dramatically over the past three […]

Regional economic development minister Michael Ring is to bring forward a national policy for social enterprise. The move comes four years after a Forfas report prepared for Government recommended such action. Ring’s department – Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs – was given responsibility for social enterprise after the formation of the new Government […]

Pensions and wills are some of the most common things which people put on the long finger. Make 2017 the year that you either start paying into a pension (if you’re not doing so already) or that you ensure that you’re saving enough into one. Many people are in for a financial shock when they […]

The new Help-to-Buy scheme for first-time buyers, announced in the Budget last October, opens for applications today. First-time buyers can recoup up to €20,000 in a tax refund to put towards the cost of purchasing a property. Just last week, the Central Bank said that first-time buyers would only need a 10pc deposit, no matter […]