The State is in discussions to buy the Citywest Hotel, as well as a number of other hotel properties, in deals which will reach hundreds of millions of euros, according to the Sunday Business Post.
The Citywest Hotel is owned by Tetrarch Capital and is a key property in the State’s refugee accommodation system. It would cost €100 million to purchase, commercial property sources have said.
Separately, the Department of Integration is in discussions with the Tifco Hotel Group, controlled Apollo Global Management, the US private equity firm, which has been key to the state’s emergency response to the refugee crisis.
Talks with the group, which leases rooms in several of its hotels to the state for refugee accommodation, are understood to be at an early stage.
Hundreds of millions of euros could be required to buy properties from the group, which controls 16 hotels valued at around €500 million.
A valuation of the Citywest Hotel has been received by the Department of Integration ahead of a bid for the property, which contains 764 bedrooms.
Politicians get €25,000 each to boost security
The personal security allowance for TDs and senators has been increased five-fold amid mounting fears for politicians’ safety, according to the Sunday Times. The security requirements allowance (SRA) has been lifted from €5,000 to €25,000. There have been fears for the safety of politicians in recent years with threats made to individual representatives and incidents and protests that have occurred at some TDs’ homes and at constituency offices. The SRA allows a once-off financial contribution or half of security costs incurred, whichever is the lesser. It can be spent on safety measures for a politicians’ staff, office or home.
US lawmakers seek competition inquiry into betting giants Flutter and DraftKing
Two US senators are calling on the country’s consumer watchdog to investigate gambling giant Flutter’s American business over alleged anti-competitive practices, the Sunday Independent is reporting.
Senators Mike Lee and Peter Welch claimed in an open letter that the conduct of Flutter and its US rival DraftKings may be violating rules around “coordination to obstruct or impair competition”. The pair sent the letter to the US Federal Trade Commission urging it to investigate the claims.
Taxpayers’ money is better spent on building houses than stuck in bank shares, says AIB chief Colin Hunt
Colin Hunt says he has no firm views on whether the State should keep a stake in AIB, the bank he’s led for the past six years, but he wonders whether taxpayers might have more pressing needs for the money, according to the Sunday Independent.
Hunt trained as an economist — completing a PhD under ECB chief economist Philip Lane — and he was a special adviser to Fianna Fáil ministers including then tánaiste Brian Cowen before the crash that eventually swamped the bank where he now works.
Revealed: How much senior PTSB staff stand to receive under terms of voluntary exit scheme
Senior staff at PTSB will be in line for payouts worth tens of thousands of euros through a new voluntary redundancy scheme launched last week, the Sunday Business Post reports.
The terms of the programme, obtained by this publication, show that staff who successfully apply for a voluntary exit from the bank will be entitled to the highest of:
• Four weeks’ basic pay per year of service, plus statutory redundancy worth two weeks pay per year of service
• Five weeks’ basic pay per year of service, which includes statutory redundancy worth two weeks pay per year of service
• 20 weeks’ actual salary plus statutory entitlements
According to Glassdoor, managers at PTSB can earn between €66,000 and €84,000 per year.
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