Archive for September 2023

Irish people have a rich history of looking to the US for a better life. That appears to be the thinking of Dublin-listed paper packaging company, Smurfit Kappa, which is joining a growing number of large Irish firms eyeing share trading in the US. But far from just being just a problem for tiny Ireland,…

Irish semi-state and public bodies are the most attractive employers for professionals working in Ireland, according to new research from Universum, which is part of IrishJobs. The Most Attractive Employers Index Ireland 2023 reveals shifts in the most desired employers for professionals across Ireland, with well-established semi-states and public sector organisations becoming more popular, and…

The European Commission has urged Ireland to speed up the switching off of out-of-date copper wire networks for phone and broadband services. The switch-off of legacy copper networks is seen as a key step in the rollout of new broadband networks. The communications regulator ComReg published proposed rules around the switch-off earlier this year and…

Wholesale electricity prices rose in August but were still much lower year-on-year, according to the Central Statistics Office. Its latest Wholesale Price Index shows a more-than 10% increase in electricity prices compared to July. But prices were still more than 72% lower compared to August 2022. Another category to see a sharp fall in the…

A new report shows that Ireland’s goods exports to Canada reached a record high of €3.39 billion in 2022, while 2023 is set to be another record year, with exports in the first half of 2023 almost 90% ahead of the same time in 2022. The report, by economist Jim Power, was commissioned by the…

New figures from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage shows that the number of new commencement notices for August rose by 30.6% compared to the same time last year. The Department said commencement notices for 2,770 new homes were received by Building Control Authorities in August, up from 2.121 units in August of…

The Minister for Finance has said the Government faces a challenge in the upcoming budget in getting the balance right between providing an appropriate amount of support needed for society and the economy without pushing inflation higher. But addressing the Dublin Chamber annual dinner, Michael McGrath said he is confident it will get it right.…

Consumer confidence dropped to a six month low in September, amid a rebound in oil prices, a further rise in interest rates and a gloomier economic outlook. The Credit Union Consumer Sentiment Index declined from 62.2 in August to 58.8 in September, marking the second monthly drop in a row. Modest improvements in confidence were…

The Minister for Finance has written to Government colleagues asking that public bodies under their remit maintain their existing payment methods in relation to accepting cash pending the completion of the National Payments Strategy. Michael McGrath also said he expects that all public bodies that currently accept or facilitate the acceptance of cash will continue…

The Governor of the Central Bank has said his view is that March is probably too early a time to expect interest rates in the eurozone to start falling again. Gabriel Makhlouf also said he would like to see a much faster pass through of European Central Bank interest rate changes to the real economy.…