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[ Exports to UK at risk of 30% drop without trade deal ]
Ireland’s exports to the UK could drop by more than 30 per cent, creating major economic disruption, if the UK leaves the EU without agreeing a special trade deal, according to new research from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
The institute identifies the risk of a major fall in trade between Britain and other EU countries in some sectors, including areas of the food industry, which would be a particular threat to Ireland.
Overall, it says, total Irish exports could drop by more than 4 per cent, representing an annual loss of €4.5 billion in cash terms.
2. Central Bank will intervene if house prices begin to soar
Central Bank governor Philip Lane has indicated the regulator will intervene in the event of runaway house price inflation that might arise from tweaks to its mortgage lending rules and the planned tax rebate scheme for first-time buyers.
“If we see that there’s a perverse, unwelcome interaction between excessively rapid lending and excessively rapid increases in house prices, then we can intervene,” he said at the unveiling of “limited” changes to its macroprudential rules.
Mr Lane said that after the Central Bank signalled in 2014 that it intended to cap mortgage lending “it became clear to everyone that ... a system whereby there’d be year-on-year-on-year double-digit increases in house prices would not be very likely ... unless we see double-digit increases in income levels”.
[ More than 50,000 adoptees to get right to birth certificates ]
More than 50,000 adopted people are to be given the right to their birth certificates for the first time under new legislation to be published by the Government.
Minister for Children Katherine Zappone secured Cabinet approval on Tuesday to publish the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill.
Many adoptees are currently unable to access birth certificates listing their birth parents’ names due to legal obstacles, including a constitutional right to privacy on the part of the parents.
4. Donald Trump calls for unity in Thanksgiving message
Donald Trump issued a unifying Thanksgiving message as he worked to include some of his former critics in his White House team.
The president-elect has given jobs to two Republican women who clashed with him on the campaign trail, and is considering offering arch-critic Mitt Romney the most senior post, secretary of state.
Mr Trump has travelled to Florida for Thanksgiving, and tweeted: “Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. We will, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
[ Major concerns emerge over students’ basic maths skills ]
Serious concerns over the basic skills of students in maths have emerged in a major review of so-called Stem subjects taught in Irish schools.
The quality of graduates in so-called Stem subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths – is considered crucial to the country’s economic future.
But the report, commissioned by the Department of Education, notes that while there has been a surge in the number of students taking higher-level maths in the Leaving Cert, the lack of basic skills among many is a cause for real concern.
Much of this increase is as a result of bonus points being offered for maths, with numbers jumping from 16 per cent in 2011 to 28 per cent in 2016.