Business News

The number of people on the live register decreased 1.6pc in January to 200,300. This is the lowest number recorded in the seasonally adjusted series since April 2008. According to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), in unadjusted terms, there were 199,627 persons signing on last month. This represents an annual drop […]

The European Commission has revised downwards its GDP forecast for Ireland as our “economic outlook remains clouded by uncertainty”. In its quarterly economic forecasts, the EU executive said that domestic economy is expected to expand at an average rate of 4pc this year and next. The Commission cited “robust employment developments, stronger wage growth and […]

Sought-after professionals will pick up pay rises of up to 20pc this year as employers predict a “Brexit boost”. Workers in skilled financial services and IT roles are set to reap the benefits of new opportunities as companies locate their European bases in Ireland rather than the UK. Recruitment firm Morgan McKinley found that 52pc […]

The Central Bank has been able to provide assurances that the financial system as a whole was resilient enough to withstand a hard Brexit and that the most material ‘cliff-edge’ financial stability risks arising from Brexit “have been largely mitigated”. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said he has met with top officials from the National Treasury […]

Large numbers of people who have worked in Britain are entitled to a tax refund, but many are unaware of it. Tax specialists Taxback.com said the rebates could be worth more than €1,000. An estimated one in three Irish people who have worked in the UK are entitled to a tax rebate. But many are […]

A new survey claims that most Irish broadband users are “not satisfied” with their broadband. The Coyne Research poll of 1,000 people, commissioned by Imagine Communications, claims that over 60pc of rural dwellers believe faster broadband “would significantly enhance their quality of life” and that 42pc “feel their community has been let down by the […]

The State’s proposed new white-collar crime agency, the Corporate Enforcement Authority, will have beefed-up powers of search and entry, allowing it to access an investigated company’s digital records “wherever they are held”. The proposed new powers will, for example, allow white-collar crime investigators to use their own computers to log in to, and download, an […]

The State loses approximately €21.4 billion in revenue each year in what are known as “tax expenditures”. These include the wide range of reliefs and reductions allowable to individuals and families under income tax and other taxes, but also the generous tax shelters allowed to firms and foreign executives domiciled here. University College Dublin economist […]

A leading indicator for the economy recorded its slowest pace of growth since May 2013 in a warning sign ahead of Britain’s exit from the European Union. The AIB Ireland Composite Purchasing Managers Index headline reading dropped to 54.2 at the start of 2019, down from 56.3 in December. While a reading over 50 still […]

Ireland’s robust economic performance faces an ‘existential threat’ from a no-deal Brexit, the stockbroking firm warned in its latest quarterly ‘health check’ on the Irish economy. “We assume that the UK will leave the EU in an orderly manner on March 29, or more likely later, but the risks have risen over recent weeks of […]