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Government will consider extending inflation supports to homes and businesses after State finances recorded a €5 billion surplus for 2022, ministers confirmed on Wednesday. Exchequer returns for last year show that Government revenues outstripped spending by €5 billion on the back of windfall gains in tax on corporate profits. Following the news, Michael McGrath, Minister for Finance, confirmed that the Government would consider extending household energy bill supports and other measures to combat inflation, past their scheduled February end date. Barry O’Halloran reports.
Permanent TSB (PTSB) is poised to see its total income surge by 83 per cent this year, making it the fastest-growing bank in Europe, according to US investment bank BofA Securities. This should pave the way for financial regulators to next year lift a long-standing ban on PTSB paying dividends, which would allow the Irish Government and UK banking giant NatWest to potentially sell down part of their respective stakes in the company, BoA Securities analyst Alastair Ryan said in report on the lender, published on Wednesday. Joe Brennan has the details
The services sector saw a “modest pickup in momentum” last month after slowing to a crawl in November, as input price inflation eased and businesses continued to take on new hires, according to the latest AIB purchasing managers index (PMI) survey, writes Ian Curran The wide-ranging sector, which incorporates everything from hairdressers to IT and media companies, expanded in December but was weighed down by the weak performance of the transport, tourism and leisure subsector.
AI-powered ovens, next generation pet tech and supersized TVs were among the products debuted at the annual CES show in Las Vegas. Returning to a fully in-person show, the event is set to showcase everything from the car sector and sustainability to digital health and the meta verse. Around 100,000 people are expected to walk through the doors over the course of the next few days, marking a return to the in-person event for the tech conference. Ciara O’Brien reports from Las Vegas.
It was another bumper year for the exchequer, with €83.1 billion in tax collected according to the end-year exchequer returns, up by an extraordinary 21.5 per cent on the previous year. And while corporation tax again showed the biggest rise, income tax and VAT also chipped in, despite all the problems faced by the economy. New Minister for Finance Michael McGrath will know, however, that nothing can be taken for granted in 2023 and officials will be watching for any signs that the economic slowdown or the wobbles in the tech sector are having an impact. Cliff Taylor analyses the latest figures.
A look ahead to 2023
What will 2023 have in store for the economy, the media landscape and the tech sector? Ciarán Hancock is joined by Irish Times business journalists Eoin Burke-Kennedy, Ciara O’Brien and Laura Slattery.
It’s that time of year when everyone makes new year’s resolutions that will be broken within days. But there are some tech resolutions that could be worthwhile making – and keeping. Perhaps you want fewer smartphone interruptions or would like to increase your security. Maybe the email spam has finally worn you down. Ciara O’Brien some suggestions to help make 2023 a healthier tech year.
Cantillon looks at the latest developments in the DPC versus Meta and hears AIB staff were a little taken aback when they tried to log on.
After about a decade of significant outperformance culminating in a Covid boom, technology investors faced a sharp reversal this year. By the end of June Nasdaq was down 29.5 per cent and the Goldman Sachs Unprofitable Tech index was down 52 per cent, writes Daniel Rasmussen. Yet one corner of the tech market was strangely unaffected. The US venture capital index compiled by Cambridge Associates was down only 12.5 per cent through the end of June (the last available data). This gap between private markets and public markets is the largest since the bursting of the dotcom bubble more than two decades ago.
The Airthings View Radon monitor keeps an eye on the quality of the air in your home, looking at different parameters such as humidity, temperature and radon levels. Ciara O’Brien takes it for a test run.
