Subscriber OnlyBusiness Today Newsletter

Mediahuis settles, mortgage rules defended, Ulster Bank executives at Oireachtas

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

Mediahuis Ireland has settled a number of cases tied to the so-called INM 19

Peter Flanagan's face
Peter Flanagan
Thu Oct 20 2022 - 06:52

Mediahuis Ireland, the publisher formerly known as Independent News & Media (INM), has moved to settle many of the claims made against it by the so-called INM 19, a cohort of people with various links to the company whose emails were illegally accessed in a data breach in 2014. Mark Paul has the story.

It’s a feast of banking stories today. Ulster Bank executives appeared at the Oireachtas finance committee on Wednesday ahead of the lender’s exit from the Irish market. Joe Brennan was watching.

Joe also reports on the Central Bank defence of its decision to ease some restrictions around mortgage lending. Staying on that subject, Dominic Coyle goes through what the changes really mean, while Cantillon asks who really will benefit from the changes.

Staying on banking, the High Court reserved judgment on Ulster Bank’s appeal against decisions made by the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman in relation to tracker mortgages. Ellen O’Riordan reports.

READ MORE

Elsewhere in the sector Permanent TSB raised €250 million of capital as it prepares to take on some of Ulster Bank’s loans. But, as Joe reports, it paid a high price: the coupon on the new debt is 13.4 per cent.

The Central Statistics Office has published a study on who is buying homes now. Dominic Coyle reports.

Sean O’Driscoll, the head of Cliste Hospitality, told Ciaran Hancock on the Inside Business podcast his firm has increased rates to cover soaring inflation.

Away from financial services, Spanish pharma group Grifols has opened an extension to its Dublin site, which, as Dominic Coyle reports, will lead to about 200 more jobs there.

The Tax Appeals Commission has quashed a capital gains tax bill of €692,010 served by the Revenue Commissioners on the shareholder of a property company. As Gordon Deegan writes, it’s a rare victory for an appellant at the commission.

Gordon also reports on An Bord Pleanala’s decision to allow an 11 storey build-to-rent scheme in Dublin’s north inner city.

The National Lottery operator breached the terms of its licence once during 2021 by contacting a group of players who had excluded themselves from its games, Laura Slattery has the details.

Laura also reports on the latest consumer sentiment survey, which continues to be gloomy.

The Dublin Chamber will tonight call for the Government to cut capital gains tax for business as well as longer term supports to deal with high gas prices. Colin Gleeson has the story.

An Indian national with a permit to work at a restaurant in Ireland has succeeded in his High Court challenge to the Minister for Justice’s decision to refuse his visa application on the basis he did not demonstrate sufficient tandoori cooking skills. Ellen reports.

In Technology, Ciara O’Brien reports on how chatbots have become ubiquitous in customer service.

Finally in Tech Tools Ciara runs the rule over Sennheiser’s TV Clear earbuds, as well as the latest watch from FitBit and Meta’s new virtual reality headset.

Stay up to date with all our business news: sign up to our Business Today daily email news digest.