News

There was a strong rise in the number of home buyers approved for a mortgage in July. Almost 3,300 people got the green light from their bank to borrow to buy a home. This is up 490 from the same month last year, the Banking and Payments Federation said. In percentage terms, the rise was […]

Mortgage approvals increased by 17.6pc year on year in the three months to the end of July, new figures from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland show. A total of 3,274 mortgages were approved per month during the period with just under half of them accounted for by first-time buyers. On average mover purchases accounted […]

Ireland disagrees profoundly with the European Commission’s ruling against its tax dealings with Apple Inc, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said on Tuesday ahead of seeking cabinet approval to appeal. Ireland’s finance ministry said its position remained that the full amount of tax was paid and no state aid was provided. Ireland did not give favourable […]

Apple has accused the European Commission of threatening future investment and job creation on the continent and said it is confident of overturning the order THE European Commission has ordered that Ireland demands back taxes from Apple of approximately €13 billion. Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager today announced the findings of the three-year State Aid investigation […]

Irish catheter and extrusion provider VistaMed is to create 200 new jobs as part of a major €10m investment, supported by Enterprise Ireland. The new jobs will be based at the firm’s state-of-the-art research and development facility in Carrick-on-Shannon in Leitirm. VistaMed’s announcement brings the total number of positions at the company up to 525 […]

An ongoing mix of oversupply and weak demand has seen the price of wholesale gas collapse in recent times. Gas prices in August were down 35pc on the same month last year, a new report from Vayu Energy has shown. According to the latest Wholesale Energy Market Report gas prices are down 10pc month on […]

An Irish start-up that has Jamie Heaslip amongst its investors has become the first company here to sign up to the Global Lighting Challenge. The challenge was launched at the UN Climate Conference in Paris last year with the aim of replacing 10 billion lights around the world with LED lights, which are more efficient. […]

Europe’s biggest stock exchange Bats Europe could open a base outside London following Brexit, its head told Reuters, voicing doubts about whether the City of London would secure sufficient access to the European market. Bats Europe accounts for about 24 percent of daily trading in European shares and a shift of UK operations of one […]

Pre-tax profits at pharmaceutical firm Clonmel Healthcare more than doubled to €18.5m last year. New accounts show that the Co Tipperary-based firm enjoyed the massive increase in pre-tax profits largely as a result of receiving dividends of €12m from a subsidiary. Revenues fell from €47.38m to €41.62m in the 12 months to the end of […]

Britain’s Restaurant Group, the struggling owner of the Joe’s Kitchen chain, said it identified 33 underperforming sites for sale or closure as a part of its ongoing strategy review after a turbulent year. The company, that ousted its chief executive earlier this month, said it would take action on pricing and add back popular dishes […]