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Accenture layoffs latest, Cartrawler CEO plays down sale talk and can AI save you money?

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

Accenture is to make 890 staff from its Irish operations redundant. Photo: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

Peter Flanagan's face
Peter Flanagan
Wed Aug 2 2023 - 06:30

The IDA has pledged to help the laid off Accenture workers as the company begins its latest round of lay-offs. Meanwhile the Communication Workers Union has called on the company to enter redundancy negotiations. Barry O’Halloran and Ellen O’Regan have the story.

CarTrawler chief executive Peter O’Donovan said the travel tech company’s private equity owner, TowerBrook Capital, remains “very committed” to its investment, three years after stepping in with an emergency €100 million funding deal during the pandemic. Joe Brennan reports.

Can AI help you save money? Brianna Parkins doubts it, but automation can help you save – if you help yourself first.

Homeowners will not be charged a levy on their electricity bills next year to help fund the development of renewable energy sources, but they will not benefit from the €89.10 refund they got this year at a time of sharply rising energy prices. Dominic Coyle reports.

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Dominic also has details of the €191 million bailout nursing homes say they need in Budget 2024 to avoid further closures in the sector. And they warn that a proposed 12 per cent rise in the national minimum wage will create an additional funding shortfall of between €28 million and €32 million across the sector.

Overly optimistic cost estimates for big public projects were creating “significant public and political condemnation” when the final bill initially put forward had been nowhere near robust enough to begin with, according to a leading State agency. Ken Foxe has the story.

Kerry Group, which reports earnings this morning, has added to its growing portfolio of taste and ingredients businesses in Asia with the acquisition of Shanghai Greatang Orchard Food for an initial consideration of €91 million. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.

The trend continues: July was another record month for electric vehicle sales across the country, as the number of new EVs registered last month was up 52 per cent on July of last year. Ellen has the story.

Mediahuis Ireland has acquired Paramount Packaging, a supplier of packaging products based near Arklow, Co Wicklow, for an undisclosed sum. Laura Slattery reports.

Laura also reports that Greencoat Renewables, the Dublin-listed wind and solar energy group, is to expand its portfolio of wind assets with the acquisition of a 50MW (megawatt) wind farm in Spain. The company said it had reached an agreement to buy the Andella farm in Valladolid, which is currently under construction and expected to be operational in the second quarter of next year.

In his column, former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane warns of the downsides of so-called central bank digital currencies and why we should be wary of them.

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