Tax cuts are not called for in the next budget, think tank ESRI has said as it slashed its forecasts for growth in the Irish economy. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports on the quarterly economic commentary released this morning.
Doubling down on the good news, IDA Ireland’s new chief executive Michael Lohan says more lay-offs are likely in the technology sector, while the current shortage of housing accommodation in the country has “dampened” growth for overseas firms expanding their operations here. He was speaking to Business Editor Ciarán Hancock on the Inside Business podcast.
Meanwhile at a conference in Portugal, the heads of the world’s biggest central banks, including our ECB, signalled their readiness to increase interest rates further and keep them high, as they warned tight labour markets are still pushing up wages and prices.
The comments come as banks in Ireland say the move towards online and contactless banking has gathered pace, with more than €50 million in contactless transactions occurring daily. Conor Pope examines new data published a day after the EU Commission signalled it will legislate to protect those who want to keep paying in cash.
Sticking with lenders, Avant Money was ordered to pay more than €8,000 in compensation to a 70-year-old whose mortgage switching application they would not entertain even though their policies at the time said his application should be considered. Stephen Bourke has the details.
And a Department of Finance official told an Oireachtas committee that providing a legal entitlement to refunds for victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud would be a “very complex legal issue”, potentially create problems around competition and barriers to entry in the Irish banking sector. Ellen O’Regan was there.
Plans by Supermac’s boss Pat McDonagh for a €10 million Barack Obama Plaza-style motorway plaza outside Ennis off the M18 motorway linking Galway to Limerick are being stalled by a High Court challenge after an eight-year battle for planning permission, writes Gordon Deegan.
On a more personal note, the High Court has ordered the removal of a mortgage charge held by a financial fund over the home of an elderly widow who was defrauded by one of her daughters. Aodhan O Faolain has the details of a case where the daughter has now been ordered to pay €75,000 compensation to her mother, and a solicitor is in trouble too.
Paddy McKillen jnr is contesting the decision of Wicklow County Council to reject his company’s planned €40m boutique holiday resort and surf school for clifftop lands overlooking Magheramore beach, near Brittas Bay.
Good news for taxpayers as the Government raised €480.5 million from the sale of another 5 per cent stake in AIB in a deal that saw the State’s stake in the lender drop below 50 per cent for the first time since the bank bailout. But we’re still under water on the €20.8 billion extended to the lender. Joe Brennan reports.
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien says he remains confident the Government can meet its social housing targets this year despite scepticism about capacity within the construction sector and cost pressures across the economy, writes Ian Curran.
In her column, Karlin Lillington decries a bad week for Ireland Inc as the Department of Justice takes emergency steps to plug gaps in data protection legislation and, critics claim, moves to gag anyone filing complaints to the Data Protection Commissioner.
As Irish Defence Forces personnel help Ukrainian soldiers in locating and disarming mines and unexploded ordnance, Chris Horn looks at the use of technology in upgrading mine detection techniques that largely date back to the second World War period.
Finally, if you’re in the mood for a party, Ciara O’Brien reviews the Lenco karaoke microphone.
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