Archive for July 2021

The number of mortgages being approved and drawn down continue to rise, according to the latest figures from Banking and Payment Federation Ireland. In the month of June, 5,203 mortgages were approved, an increase of over 11% on the previous month and a rise of almost 130% on the same month last year. First-time buyers…

Loan approvals by Home Building Finance Ireland – the Government initiative set up to fund the delivery of new homes – amounted to €539m by the end of the first half of this year. That represented a 36% increase on the €395m total approvals at the end of last year. HBFI has now committed just…

Indoor dining in restaurants and cafes resumes today for the first time since last December, with many pubs not having opened their doors since March last year when Covid restrictions came into effect. People who are fully vaccinated or who have recovered from Covid-19 in the past six months will be allowed to avail of…

Consumer and business sentiment, as measured by Bank of Ireland’s Economic Pulse, dipped slightly in July but was well up on the situation a year ago. At 89.3, the headline figure also remained above its pre-pandemic level. The Delta variant of Covid, as well as the delay to the resumption of indoor hospitality may have…

Restaurants, cafés and bars can reopen their doors for indoor eating and drinking today, operating under strict new public health regulations. Operational guidelines for the hospitality industry were updated by Fáilte Ireland last night. While businesses providing indoor hospitality are being asked to implement specified protective measures, customers will also be asked to play their…

Shares in Permanent TSB soared over 15% today after it announced a potential deal worth about €7.6 billion to buy some elements of Ulster Bank’s business here. The lender said it has entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Ulster Bank owner NatWest regarding a potential acquisition involving certain elements of the Ulster Bank…

Final meetings to agree the legal rules for indoor dining will take place this morning. It is hoped the regulations will be published later today followed by the operational guidelines for the hospitality sector. The Attorney General will meet with government officials and Fáilte Ireland this morning to finalise the legal underpinning for the new…

Irish consumer confidence dipped marginally in July from the two year high recorded in June, according to the latest consumer sentiment index from KBC Bank Ireland. A still uncertain economic outlook coupled with growing inflation fears, together with practical issues around the reopening and increasing nervousness about the Delta variant of Covid-19 are among the…

Government guidelines on how indoor hospitality will operate from Monday are due to be published shortly. The new measures will allow those who are vaccinated against Covid-19, or have recently recovered from the virus, and their children to eat and drink indoors. President Michael D Higgins yesterday signed the Health Amendment Bill into law, paving…

The Central Bank has recommended a ban on home and motor insurance customers being charged a loyalty penalty the longer they remain with an insurance provider, a practice known as “price walking”. However, the regulator has stopped short of recommending the outlawing of dual pricing, where new and renewing customers with a similar risk profile…