Archive for February 2025

Bank of Ireland said its customers increased their debit and credit card spending in January, with the pace of household spending growing by 6.1%, up from 4.5% in December. The bank’s consumer spending trends research shows a surge in summer holiday planning, with travel agencies reporting a 50% increase in sales from December, while airline…

New figures show that jobs in client companies of Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta, are now at their highest ever level, at over 546,763 jobs, which is a 1.3% increase on 2023 figures. The Annual Employment Survey 2024 shows there was a fall in job gains last year. Gross job gains for…

A new Europe-wide survey shows strong public support for EU action to address the risks and maximise the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. The European Commission Eurobarometer surveyed 1,006 people in Ireland, as part of 26,400 in total across the EU, about their attitudes to the use of AI and the future…

Spending on gas for electricity in Ireland was cut by almost one billion euro last year, as wind energy supplied 32 per cent of Ireland’s electricity. Irish wind farms saved €748 million euro on gas, which would have been predominantly imported, and a further €268 million in carbon credits in Ireland. An additional €213 million…

Local authorities will be able to zone more land for housing under changes to the National Planning Framework which will be discussed by a Cabinet committee later. The Cabinet Committee on Housing will examine immediate Government priorities in advance of the publication of a new comprehensive housing plan later this year. Tomorrow, a move to…

New analysis from the Central Statistics Office has found that the cost of a typical St Valentine’s Day gift or night out has increased over the last five years. The CSO said its research was based on a comparison of prices collected in February 2020 and December 2024. It found that while a bottle of…

Euro zone industrial production shrank by more than expected in December, indicating that the sector’s two-year recession is far from over even if some sentiment and order figures have pointed to bottoming out. Output in the 20 nations sharing the euro was down by 1.1% in December from the previous month, data from Eurostat showed…

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said that the promised VAT reduction for the hospitality sector should be “concentrated on the food and catering” sectors. Sinn Féin Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty asked whether the rate would drop to 11% or 9% as no number was specified in the Programme for Government. The Minister told the Dáil…

Rents should be freely adjusted between tenancies in a significant change to existing restrictions, a major new report on Ireland by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has recommended. The finding comes as the Government reviews existing limits on how much tenants pay as there are concerns they are discouraging institutional investors from…

Briefings for the CEO of the IDA said he needed to be prepared for questions on President Donald Trump’s plans for tariffs which were described as “counterproductive” and “in no ones’ interests.” In Q&As and other documents from late last year, Michael Lohan was advised to emphasise that Ireland needed to focus on what “it…