Microsoft’s main Irish subsidiaries paid their US-based parent company just under $56 billion (€52.2 billion) in dividends last year, accounts just filed here indicate. Accounts for Microsoft Round Island One (MRIO), a subsidiary of the global tech giant that holds investments in other companies in the Microsoft group, show that it paid a dividend of $38 billion to its US-based parent in the year to the end of June 2023. Ciara O’Brien reports.
IDA Ireland gave Intel €30 million last year as part of an aid package for companies whose energy bills spiked after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, new data shows. The money was provided to Intel in order to remedy “significant economic uncertainties, disrupted trade flows and supply chains and led to exceptionally large and unexpected price increases, especially in natural gas and electricity” caused by the invasion, according to a European Commission decision published at the time. Barry J Whyte has the details.
A shortage of second-hand homes available for purchase is partially to blame for a steep drop in the number of mortgages approved and drawn down in the first three months of the year, mortgage brokers have said. Their comments come as new figures from the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland (BPFI) point to a slowdown in home borrowing. Ian Curran reports.
Facing soaring rents and an acute shortage of housing options, Ireland’s third-level students – and their parents – have been exposed to some of the harshest realities of the free market over the past decade or so, writes Ian Curran in this weeks Agenda. With colleges and universities struggling to cobble together the funding to expand their accommodation offerings, deep-pocketed private operators, many of them backed by international capital, have entered the frame and come to dominate output.
In next autumn’s budget, will giveaway politics trump prudent fiscal policy, wonders John FitzGerald in his weekly column. Will the Government be tempted to spend the cash pile themselves, rather than bequeath it to their successors, even if that means economic damage?
Pilot unions at Aer Lingus owner International Airlines’ Group (IAG) have vowed to work together to bolster their conditions across the multinational business in a deal signed on Thursday. The move comes as the Irish Airline Pilots’ Association (Ialpa) and Aer Lingus await a Labour Court recommendation on a pay dispute following hearings that adjourned this week. Barry O’Halloran reports.
Has Apple Inc run out of ideas?
Activity in the Republic of Ireland’s services sector increased in April, albeit at a slower pace than March, with inflationary pressures remaining at “historically elevated” levels, AIB has said, reports Ian Curran. The bank’s latest purchasing managers index (PMI) for services eased to 53.3 from 56.6 in March, signalling an expansion in sectoral activity in the month but at a more moderate pace than March. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion.
Rosalind Carroll discovered the benefits of sea swimming during the Covid-19 pandemic. “When you go into cold water, suddenly you can’t think about anything else. It focuses the mind on what you are doing at that moment,” says Carroll. “There is no better way to clear your mind.” Joe Brennan spoke to the chief executive of the Injuries Resolution Board about how insurance reforms are bringing stability and reducing costs in a contentious claims environment.
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