News

€9.5m has been approved for payment so far under the Government’s €1.3 billion Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS). The scheme was announced as part of Budget 2023 to help businesses cope with the recent rises in energy costs. It provides qualifying businesses with up to 40% of the increase in electricity or gas bills […]

The number of new electric cars licensed for the first time in 2022 increased by 81% to 15,462 compared with the previous year, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office. Overall, 101,349 new cars were licensed last year, a slight decrease compared with 2021. The CSO said the number of used cars licensed last […]

Irish people are changing their shopping behaviour and their attitudes toward food and drink, according to detailed new consumer research prepared for Bord Bia. The research shows more people are shopping for essentials, meat purchases are being cut except for chicken, and consumers say shopping lists are more important in recent months. Throughout last year […]

The value of Ireland’s food, drink and horticulture exports increased by 22% last year to reach a new record high of €16.7 billion. Bord Bia’s Export Performance and Prospects report shows the significant increase in food and drink exports, up €3 billion since last year and almost 30% on pre-pandemic levels, can be attributed to […]

The unemployment rate declined marginally in December to 4.3% from 4.4% in November, according to the Central Statistics Office. This compares to a rate of 5.1% in December 2021. It’s also lower than the 4.8% recorded in December 2019, before the pandemic. The seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed was 114,500 in December last year, […]

Interest rates on new mortgages remained unchanged in November, according to the latest figures from the Central Bank. The weighted average rate on new mortgages was 2.57%. This is down 14 basis points, or 0.14% compared to November 2021. The average for new fixed rate mortgages, which now comprise 93% of all new mortgages, was […]

The EU and UK have reached an agreement on EU access to UK IT systems governing the movement of goods from Britain to Northern Ireland in what is seen as a significant development in the ongoing talks over the Northern Ireland Protocol. The agreement was announced following a meeting between the British foreign secretary James […]

New figures from Kantar show that grocery inflation here now stands at a record high of 15.4% for the 12-week period ending December 25, 2022. Kantar said this is higher than UK grocery price inflation which currently stands at 14.2%. Today’s figures show that take-home grocery sales in Ireland increased by 10% in the four […]

The number of people employed at firms backed by Enterprise Ireland (EI) rose 5% last year to 218,178, despite the difficult trading environment. It said 10,841 net new roles were created over the 12 months, down slightly on the record 11,911 jobs added a year previously. In total, 19,660 positions were generated by companies supported […]

Retail sales volumes in November declined from the previous month as increases in sales of clothing and electrical goods failed to offset sharp falls in the bar and car sales. New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that retail sales fell by 1.4% in November when compared with October on a seasonally adjusted basis. […]