Archive for December 2020

The Taoiseach has told a meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party that significant differences remain on the issue of the level playing field in the Brexit talks. Micheál Martin said there is an ongoing risk of a no-deal Brexit, which would be very serious across the regions. He said, however, that there is a…

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to Brussels in an attempt to reach a breakthrough on a post-Brexit trade deal with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Later this morning the European Commission is expected to approve a series of measures, agreed yesterday with the UK, on how to implement the Northern Ireland Protocol. However, diplomats are cautious…

Up to 6% could be knocked off Irish GDP if there is no Brexit trade deal, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) has warned. Addressing the Oireachtas Select Committee on Budgetary Oversight, IFAC member Martina Lawless said the council’s analysis, informed by the work of the Department of Finance and the ESRI, found that even…

A survey of potential housebuyers by KBC Bank Ireland has found that about a fifth said the pandemic had resulted in increased interest in buying or moving house.  But a similar percentage said it had resulted in diminished interest in buying property.  This appears to reflect the divided fortunes of the population from the pandemic…

Housing supply is unlikely to meet demand until at least the end of 2023, according to an analysis of the housing market by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. The Federation concludes that the total number of completions will exceed 19,000 units for the year. This is significantly higher than estimates produced in the early months…

A Government report outlining how to reform the assessment of insurance claims, and strengthen consumer protection, will be published this afternoon after consideration by Cabinet.  It is believed the proposals include strategies on how to increase market competition, clamp down on insurance fraud, and re-evaluate the level of awards.  In particular, it will make recommendations to address…

The impact of Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions on consumer spending have been revealed in figures released by the Banking and Payments Federation. Cash withdrawals from ATMs and card spending dropped in October, due to the shutdown of non-essential retail outlets. However online shopping boomed, with more consumers buying Irish products as a rising number of local businesses…

Online spending in November was double what it was during the same month last year, as people were precluded from physical shopping in non-essential retail stores due to Covid-19 restrictions. But the restrictions also appear to have given a boost to Irish retailers, with 43% of the online spend on Green Friday going to domestic-based…

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier is currently briefing EU member states on the state of play in the Brexit negotiations which Taoiseach Micheál Martin last night described as on a knife edge. Both teams continued discussions late into the night and will resume negotiations today, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President…

Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi and B&M will forgo UK property tax relief during the pandemic, following rivals Tesco and Morrisons and taking the total recouped by the UK government from retailers to £1.8 billion.  Britain’s supermarket groups have seen sales soar during the pandemic, but have been criticised by politicians for paying shareholder dividends while receiving…