Post-Brexit travel rights, Apple shares slide, Black Friday, and Irish rugby’s land sale

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from ‘The Irish Times’ business desk

Are fears over so-called vulture funds unfounded? A Central Bank report that will go before Cabinet today has found the firms are considering more arrangements to help people in mortgage arrears than banks and other credit companies. The report found no evidence that firms acting on behalf of vulture funds were not engaging with borrowers in arrears, and there was "no material difference" in the level of home repossessions between vulture funds and normal banks. Fiach Kelly reports.

Longstanding freedom of travel and residency arrangements between Ireland and the UK are "written in sand" and may need a separate Anglo-Irish treaty after Brexit, a group of academic lawyers has warned. The Common Travel Area, their report finds, is not underpinned by a single legal agreement but "a hotchpotch of laws". UK Prime Minister Theresa May last night described negotiations over Brexit as "immensely difficult" with significant issues in the withdrawal agreement still to be resolved.

Apple shares suffered another sharp sell-off on Monday after two of its suppliers cut their earnings forecasts, in moves that investors interpreted as another sign of softening iPhone demand. On Monday alone, Apple shed more than $40 billion (€35.5 billion) of market value. The latest slide comes after Lumentum Holdings, a supplier of 3D sensors that power the facial recognition technology on Apple's latest iPhones, unexpectedly cut its outlook for its fiscal second quarter.

State-owned health insurer VHI will in future be permitted to sell international healthcare plans covering the provision of treatment abroad under new proposals to be brought to Cabinet by the Minister for Health Simon Harris on Tuesday.

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Irish rugby is to land at least €27 million after selling a 92.5 acre site it owned in Newlands Cross, west Dublin to property investment company Hibernia Reit. The IRFU will be entitled to an additional payment if the land is re-zoned from agricultural use in the next 10 years.

Despite fears that Black Friday and Cyber Monday merely displace other Christmas revenues, Irish shoppers are gearing up for a major splurge this month on the US-inspired retail promotional days, according to new research. Of those who intend to do their Christmas shopping on those days, about one-third will spend more than they did last year, it found.

Financial services company Grant Thornton is to increase its headcount by one-third over the next two years with the creation of 400 new jobs. It made the announcement as it moved into a new head office on Dublin's City Quay.

Natural gas is not the solution for Ireland's energy needs and also raises security-of-supply issues, according to a report published on Monday. The report was commissioned by the campaign group Stop Climate Chaos (SCC) in response to a report by the Irish Academy of Engineering (IAE) in July.

Cantillon considers whether rent controls have actually been bad for tenants and predicts the ongoing row over plans to limit stakes in betting machines in British bookies is likely to drag on for another year, further damaging the sector's reputation.

In Your Money, Fiona Reddan considers the fair deal scheme and outlines the financial dos and don't s of nursing home care, while Proinsias O'Mahony advises that, amid the increased market volatility, "Keep calm and carry on" remains sound advice for long-term investors.

Michael McAleer

Michael McAleer

Michael McAleer is Motoring Editor, Innovation Editor and an Assistant Business Editor at The Irish Times