Irish billionaires get richer, gas not a solution and what ‘Great resignation’?

The wealth of Ireland's nine billionaires has increased by ¤18.3 billion since the start of Covid-19 crisis, according to Oxfam, as it called for "extreme wealth" globally to be subject to a special tax to help fund the recovery from the pandemic. Joe Brennan has the details.

It will be "disgraceful if the European Commission succeeds in its attempt to label gas as a solution to address global warming", according to renewable energy developer Eddie O'Connor. Kevin O'Sullivan reports.

Ninety-four per cent of Irish construction companies foresee a further "significant" increase in raw material hikes this year following a spike in global inflation in 2021 as economies globally reopened from Covid-19 restrictions, according to the Construction Industry Federation. Joe Brennan reports.

WG, the company behind Spar in Ireland, is investing €6.5 million in new smart technology that anticipates customer behaviour based on factors such as local weather, sporting events and even social media activity. It then orders in stock automatically for stores. Charlie Taylor reports.

The truth about the ‘Great Resignation’: It didn’t actually happen

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Expectations build for more than three US rate rises this year

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Davos organisers offer us something else to worry about: outer space

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Irish mortgage approvals drop almost 5% in November

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Chief executives are more confident about the global economic outlook than at any time in the past decade even as they grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic, rising inflation, supply-chain disruptions and staffing problems, according to PwC, writes Joe Brennan.

The 'Great Resignation' never happened, according to Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Pilita Clark says it is one thing to tackle inequality with a "levelling up" agenda but is not sure that is the same as the workplace "levelling down" that private equity may be unleashing.

Bernard Mallee, director of communications and advocacy at the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association, in our weekly opinion argues that with our outsized exposure to a thriving biopharmaceutical industry, it makes sense for us to side with innovation.

Since launching in 2016, the Buymie grocery app has seen its business expand across five cities in two countries, with 13 per cent of Dublin households using it on a regular basis. The same day grocery delivery service, which has 70 full-time employees and 350 personal shoppers on its roster, has been recognised as one of Ireland’s fastest growing tech companies.

Chief executive and co-founder Devan Hughes talks to Ciarán Hancockon our Inside Business podcast about how the service works, why the pandemic has been good for business and what the company's expansion plans look like.

The Irish Times Innovation Awards will be held later this year. A record number of entries have been received, and some 15 companies across five sectors have been shortlisted for the awards, with the overall prize going to one of the category winners.

This week we profile the six shortlisted companies across the life sciences and healthcare and manufacturing and design sectors.

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