Archive for March 2023

The banking sector has been no stranger to dramatic developments in recent years. Indeed, the past 15 months have not been without their fair share of twists, which were reflected in the annual results of the main banks which were published over the last few weeks. As 2022 kicked off, the industry was still grappling…

There has been a fall in the number of companies implementing or trialling a four-day working week, according to a new survey. The study by recruitment company Hays Ireland shows that the number of workplaces that have either implemented or are trialling a four-day working week has dropped from 6% in 2022 to 3.5% in…

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that households’ saving remained high during the last three months of 2022. The CSO said the Households Saving Rate stood at 20% in the fourth quarter of 2022 as people continued the higher rate of saving begun during the Covid pandemic. Before adjusting for seasonality or inflation,…

Consumers have been warned of a serious rise in highly convincing investment scams that are being carried out by fraudsters. The scams are particularly targeted at those over the age of 55, with a minimum investment of €20,000 or more. The FraudSMART awareness initiative from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) says the scams…

Mortgage rates went up in January reflecting some of the effect of successive interest rate rises from the European Central Bank. New data from the Central Bank also shows an average gap between the variable rates charged by the main banks and non-bank lenders of just over 1%. The average interest rate on new mortgages…

Inflation is forecast to fall to 5% this year and household incomes are expected to improve, according to the Central Bank. In its latest Quarterly Bulletin, the bank expects the domestic economy to grow by just over 3% this year. It thinks inflation will be lower this year, due to falling energy prices, and expects…

US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are expected to agree to begin negotiations on ensuring free-trade agreement-like status for the European Union, according to sources. The leaders are set to meet in Washington tomorrow. Reuters reported last week that the United States and EU were working to make European…

Nearly a quarter of consumers are struggling to make ends meet due to rising grocery prices, according to research conducted on behalf of Love Irish Food. The study, carried out by Kantar, found that 23% of consumers are facing difficulties in covering the cost of shopping due to the jump in prices in the past…

The survey was carried out among 1,000 women and men across Ireland, with the findings published today to mark International Women’s Day. The data suggests that maintaining work-life balance post-pandemic is proving harder for women. Overall, three-quarters of those surveyed said demands on their personal time and daily routine at work have changed since the…

The Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI) will tell an Oireachtas committee later today that Ireland may now have the highest level of uninsured vehicles in the EU. The MIBI said the level of uninsured vehicles here is now three times that of the UK and four times that found across the EU and EEA.…