The State is facing payments of at least €5 billion before the end of the decade for failing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with EU targets, reports the Sunday Times.
An internal Department of the Environment analysis cited by the newspaper suggests the State will be hit by an average bill of €1 billion a year in the second half of this decade even if the Coalition’s climate action plan is fully implemented.
Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan said his officials were projecting that the 29 per cent fall in emissions under the climate action plan – which is short of the 51 per cent EU target – would, under EU rules, require the State to pay up at least €5 billion in what are in effect fines.
Ronan’s portfolio
Johnny Ronan has secured the backing of an international investor in his bid to win back a portfolio of prized assets, according to the Business Post. Stefan Jaeger’s investment firm Landfair is backing Ronan’s bid to secure 11 properties, which were placed under receivership last year, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Bids for the assets, which includes the Bewley’s cafe building on Grafton Street and Connaught House in Dublin 4, are due this week, with Ronan believed to be one of a small number of prospective bidders seeking to purchase all 11 properties as a lot.
Porridge profits
Flahavan’s, the Waterford-based porridge maker, recorded a fall in pretax profits worth more than €800,000 as increased costs bite into the company’s earnings, reports the Sunday Independent.
According to results published for Flahavan’s parent company, Finegrove Holdings, revenue surged by more than €4.1 million to almost €33.5 million for the year ended June 30th, 2023. Despite this, the company’s pretax profit fell to just over €1.8 million, down from €2.6 million the previous year. The fall in profits came as operating expenses increased by 10 per cent to almost €8.5 million.
Dublin land bank
The Land Development Agency (LDA) has entered preliminary discussions to acquire a north Dublin land bank with potential for more than 1,900 homes, according to the Sunday Times.
The newspaper understands that the LDA has begun talks to Richmond Homes, a subsidiary of investment house Avestus Capital Partners, in relation to its 125-acre land bank in Baldoyle – the LDA declined to comment.
The land, formerly known as the Coast, has already undergone construction for about 100 homes, but significant scope remains for expansion, the newspaper said.
Energy consumption
The recovery in consumption of energy has been particularly strong in Ireland following declines across Europe in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to UK utility giant SSE, it is reported in the Sunday Independent.
The energy company also said it was moving closer to a final investment decision on two substantial hydrogenated vegetable oil-fuelled power plants in Tarbert, Co Kerry, and Platin, Co Meath. During a call with investment analysts covering SSE’s results for its 2024 financial year, Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE’s chief executive, said the company had noted that energy consumption in Ireland had come back strongly, highlighting how it was also helping to build new emergency generation here.
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