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Corporate insolvencies in the Republic rose by 22 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, according to Deloitte. The consultancy said there were 146 business failures recorded in the first three months of the year, up from 120 in the same quarter last year. However, Deloitte noted the number of insolvencies was marginally down from 152 reported in the final quarter of 2022, “which means we are not currently experiencing a steep increase in corporate insolvency activity, which many have forecasted”, it said. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the details.
Flying is a vastly more joyless and unpleasant experience than it used to be, except for two things. It is much safer and, although it might be hard to believe this right now, it is also considerably cheaper, writes Pilita Clark. A first-class return ticket from Frankfurt to New York cost as much as a new Mercedes-Benz car in 1961. But 50 years later, a new Mercedes cost 13 times as much as that fare, a German aviation boss once told me.
AIB is to offer staff who have suffered domestic violence or abuse 10 days of paid leave per year while making the bank’s security services available to affected employees. In line with its commitment to provide a more supportive workplace, the bank said it was extending its practical supports for domestic abuse victims. As well as the paid leave, the bank said it would now offer affected employees five days’ paid emergency hotel accommodation; security assistance to ensure their personal safety on the way to, from and at work; counselling services; and the option of a salary advance to assist financially where required, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy
Ireland’s largest public sector pensions broker Cornmarket Group has acquired KD Retirement Services – a Dublin-based retirement planning business and financial adviser focused on members of the Irish Prison Service – for an undisclosed sum. As an intermediary, Dublin-based KD, which trades as Capital Advisory Services (CAS), administers additional voluntary contributions and investments for more than 1,000 customers nationwide. Ian Curran reports.
Political impasse in Northern Ireland, logjams at Dover, higher-than-expected inflation, food shortages and waning economic growth can all be linked to Brexit, the UK’s increasingly messy EU divorce, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy in his weekly column. Next up on the Brexit snag list is the introduction of import controls for goods coming into the UK from the EU, already deferred several times but now due to commence in September. They promise more trade barriers and more red tape.
There is little doubt that the residential property market is one of the greatest challenges facing Ireland today. Despite the impact of a global pandemic followed in quick succession by the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the Irish economy is performing well. However, while our economy continues to recover and grow, the property market is still suffering from the after-effects of both crises, writes Marian Finnegan of Sherry FitzGerald. However, calling this a housing crisis not only understates the severity of the challenges we face, it also implies we simply need to build more houses. While that, in many ways, is true, it is simplistic. We need to build more homes of all types for everybody.
With only three big banks left, are Irish consumers bereft of choice?
My 83-year-old mother who was sole heir to my father’s estate has a been receiving dividend cheques for a UK company in which Dad bought shares probably over 10 years ago. He passed in 2018. She didn’t realise she should be declaring the dividends for tax and I’m pretty sure he didn’t either. The payments are about £400 annually sterling. I will be executor to her estate. Should she declare these payments now or should I look after it down the road at probate stage? How would the tax debt be calculated? Dominic Coyle answers your personal finance questions.
