Archive for July 2020

Almost half of those working in the accountancy profession have called for greater leniency on filing deadlines, interest and penalties as companies try to cope with the effects of Covid-19, a new survey shows. The survey, conducted by Chartered Accountants Ireland among almost 2,000 members on the island of Ireland, also shows that liquidity and…

The euro zone economy may contract less this year than the European Central Bank had forecast and its recovery could also be quicker, the bank’s Survey of Professional Forecasters showed today.  The quarterly survey sees the economy shrinking by 8.3% this year. This marked a downgrade from its May projection for a 5.5% drop but a…

The European Union’s top court has fined Ireland for delays and incomplete application of the EU’s rules against money laundering and terrorist financing, it said in a statement. The EU Court of Justice ordered Ireland to pay to the European Commission a lumpsum of €2 million, while Romania was fined €3m. “Both member states failed…

Enterprise Ireland has cautioned that 2020 will be very challenging for many Irish exporters due to the outbreak of Covid-19 and Brexit. The government agency responsible for the development and growth of Irish companies in global markets said that Irish companies trading internationally have been impacted in every market due to the global nature of…

The European Court of Justice has rejected a key EU tool used to transfer Europeans’ personal data across the Atlantic for commercial use. However, it upheld the validity of another tool used by hundreds of thousands of companies to transfer data worldwide. The court ruled that Privacy Shield, the EU-US data protection agreement, is invalid,…

A survey reveals that despite enforced business closures, challenging restrictions and loss of revenue, 51% of Irish SMEs are feeling optimistic about the future of their business. The Future of Business Survey, run by Facebook in collaboration with the World Bank and the OECD, surveyed 30,000 SMEs on the social media giant across 50 countries…

Profits at Irish private sector firms are expected to come under pressure in the next 12 months, according to the latest AIB business activity report. The profit outlook among the firms surveyed by AIB is at its lowest since October 2010. It comes despite falling costs, particularly workforce related costs, as companies availed of the…

Chambers Ireland has called on the Government to extend the wage subsidy scheme for some sectors and introduce a 12 month waiver on commercial rates in the July Stimulus, which is due to be published next week.  The organisation represents 40 Chambers and more than 8,000 businesses around the country. It said the package of supports…

Euro zone banks maintained relatively easy access to credit for firms in the second quarter with the backing of government guarantees, but they will likely tighten credit standards in the following three months, the European Central Bank said today.  With a pandemic-induced crisis shutting much of the euro zone economy, firms rushed to tap bank…

93% of Irish employees surveyed by recruiter Robert Walters said they would like more opportunities to work from home when normal working patterns resume. Around one in ten said they would like to work from home permanently.  The recruitment company gauged the opinions of management and staff in over 2,200 companies worldwide for this survey. …