Social housing’s a private affair; mixed views on ECB rate rises; and how to cut your inheritance tax

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


Private developers are providing more than seven in 10 of all social homes being delivered by the Government according to new figures from the Department of Housing. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports that, even then, the numbers delivered will likely fall below Government targets when full-year figures are available for 2022.

Doubts remain about the medium-term direction of European interest rates after ECB hawks and doves both came out to make their case on Monday. While a half point increase next week seems a done deal, views differ on the subsequent pace of any further rate rises.

In personal finance this week, Fiona Reddan looks at three approaches that might help you cut any future inheritance tax bills. Saving money is a top priority this year as the cost of living rises and hefty energy bills drop through our door or our inbox. That’s the subject of the latest edition of our On The Money weekly newsletter which you can read here. If you’re interested in consumer finance issues, sign up to On The Money which is published every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.

In our readers’ Q&A this week, we answer queries from one reader wondering if now is the time to walk away from their tracker mortgage and another trying to game the small gift exemption to boost his tax free inheritance.

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And Conor Pope analyses whether the arrival of Irish Ibans for Irish customers will allow fintech Revolut to fully compete in the Irish retail banking market.

A “self-made” and “successful” businessman with property in Ireland valued in excess of €5 million has won a domicile levy tax battle with the Revenue Commissioners concerning a disputed €719,208 tax bill. Gordon Deegan has the details.

And the Workplace Relations Commission found that a welder who repeatedly threatened to quit as a “tactic” to get a pay rise had “some level of responsibility” when the firm assumed he had finally walked out. However, it found that he was ultimately unfairly sacked and awarded him €19,500, writes Stephen Bourke.

Irish whiskey distilleries welcomed the return of foreign visitors this year, with north Americans, Germans and the British to the fore. However, Colin Gleeson reports, numbers are still one-third down on pre-Covid levels, though sales figures show the attractions are an increasingly important element of the industry.

Dublin-based developers Dwyer Nolan bounced back to profit in dramatic with earnings of just over €31 million after revenues jumped seventeenfold to just shy of €100 million. However, it now has three major developments for a combine 1,600 homes stuck in the planning process as An Bord Pleanála is unable to make decision on strategic housing development applications.

McDonald’s has stepped back to the Eighties for the musical backdrop to its latest ad campaign but one noticeable absentee from its “Brows” package is its food. Laura Slattery analyses the move and the music.

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