Business Podcast: Paying the Paddy levy

If you’ve shopped online and you’re Irish you may be familiar with the feeling that you are being ripped off by international retailers. Geo-blocking (when you can’t access a site aimed at consumers in another country) and excessive price differences are the most frequent complaints, and we Irish make more such complaints than most others, according to a report today from the European Consumer Centre.

We talk to ECC representative Martina Nee about the report's findings, and to Mark Paul and Laura Slattery about personal experiences of what Mark calls the "Paddy Levy". Have you been caught out by the levy? Email us your stories: businesspodcast@irishtimes.com

Also on the podcast, we look at Minister for Housing Simon Coveney's big announcement that rent increases will be capped at 4 per cent a year in Dublin and Cork. It seems no one is entirely happy with the plan – but is it better than nothing? John McCartney of Savills Auctioneers, Mick Byrne of the Dublin Tenants Association and our property editor Madeline Lyons weigh in.