Ires dispute latest, FAI chairman to chair insurer and why we shouldn’t rely on age-verification tech

Ires Reit’s Canadian founder sought a hike in potential fees from the Irish company during 2020 talks to extend an asset management contract, Joe Brennan reports. In mid-2021, Ires decided to move management of its assets in-house having failed to agree a new investment management agreement (IMA) with Toronto-based Capreit’s Ires Fund Management unit.

Elsewhere, Joe reports on how the South African insurer OUTsurance has enlisted Tony Keohane to chair a new Irish unit set up to enter the motor and home insurance market this year. Mr Keohane is better known in his roles as chairman of the Football Association of Ireland and Uisce Éireann.

In the construction sector, inflation fell below 4 per cent last year as firms felt the benefits of stabilising material prices, energy cost reductions and greater competitiveness. However, Eoin Burke-Kennedy brings the details of higher labour costs in a new report from the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI).

In the wider world of economic data, Eoin also reports on a drop in inflation following two months of increases in the headline rate of price growth. Laura Slattery gives details of, among other things, how tourists spent over half a billion euro in the Republic on visits here during December.

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Will consumers benefit from Aviva entering the Irish health insurance market?

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The world’s richest countries must invest in effective, cheap technologies to tackle climate change

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Transport data company CitySwift has raised €7 million for its expansion which includes an ambition to double its workforce. Gresham House Ventures led the funding round with a €5 million investment, all of which brings CitySwift’s total raised to date to €13 million. Ciara O’Brien has the details.

The Dublin Airport passenger cap saga continues. The lack of certainty over the annual passenger cap at Dublin Airport may compel carriers at one of the world’s largest airline groups to focus on other airports if a decision is delayed. Gordon Deegan has the details.

The gender pay gap among employees in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine rose to 9.7 per cent last year as the department published its gender pay gap report a month later than the statutory deadline. Ellen O’Regan reports.

Environment and Science Editor Kevin O’Sullivan has a look at a long-awaited draft national biomethane strategy. It proposes, he reports, replacing 10 per cent of Irish gas supplies by 2030 with biomethane generated from agricultural feedstocks and food waste through a network of up to 250 anaerobic digesters.

In her column, Karlin Lillington considers the question of how many countries are attempting to introduce reliable age-authentication systems to prevent children accessing inappropriate online material. The trick is in keeping the personal data of visitors to such sites private and protected too. “Unfortunately, right now, no such system is available,” she says.

Meanwhile, in New Innovators, Olive meets the Cork-based start-up turning decommissioned wind turbine blades into everything from outdoor furniture to bridges for greenways.

Have you returned to the office? Cantillon looks at some new evidence that the asking price of rents for prime US office space fell during the third quarter of last year, while new office construction in New York has essentially stopped. The explanation, in part, is that workers are only coming in sporadically. It also assesses the IMF’s forecast of a soft landing for the world economy.

Finally, with more than 3 billion active users and a storied history in the annals of social media, the success of Facebook has long been pondered. But, after a mere 20 years in existence, what are the chief takeaways? Ciara O’Brien explores in Business Technology.

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