Archive for September 2025

AIB, Bank of Ireland, and PTSB have announced joint plans to launch a person-to-person mobile-payment service to rival fintech banks such as Revolut and N26. The new offering, called Zippay, will be an in-app service available through the banks’ existing mobile banking apps. Customers will be able to send, request, and split payments instantly by…

Several Irish tech companies are reporting more interest in their products since Europe’s move to boost defence spending. Spurred by the war in Ukraine and a US push for its allies to take greater responsibility for defending their countries, many European nations announced new defence spending targets and initiatives this year. Limerick start-up Provizio, a…

The amount the State pays in interest on the country’s borrowings is going to rise in the coming years, a new report from the Department of Finance has warned. The Annual Report on Public Debt says that Ireland owed €218 billion at the end of last year. It amounts to €40,500 per person, which the…

The Taoiseach has said the Government will set out further ways next week “to reduce the cost and regulatory burden on businesses”. Micheál Martin said the measures will form part of “a coordinated series of actions across Government” as part of an action plan on competitiveness and productivity. He said there will also be actions…

A federal jury has determined that Alphabet’s Google must pay $425m for invading users’ privacy by continuing to collect data for millions of users who had switched off a tracking feature in their Google account. The verdict comes after a trial in the federal court in San Francisco over allegations that Google over an eight-year…

US President Donald Trump has said the US might have to “unwind” trade deals it reached with the European Union, Japan and South Korea, among others, if it loses a Supreme Court tariffs case, and warned that a loss would cause the US “to suffer so greatly”. Mr Trump, speaking to reporters at the White…

Taxes collected by the State so far this year are 7.3% up on 2024, leaving the Government in a strong position ahead of next month’s Budget. When one-off payments of back taxes from iPhone-maker Apple are excluded, revenue rose 4.4%. The latest set of Exchequer Returns for the month of August show income tax collected…

The European Commission is to adopt a proposal to ratify the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement. The trade deal was signed in December but has yet to be ratified by European Union member states and the European Parliament. The Government remains opposed to the agreement in its current form and said it will not support it…

The Climate Change Advisory Council has recommended that the Government improve grant supports for retrofitting, heat pumps and solar installation. An annual Review for 2025 on the Built Environment, Industry, and Waste sectors has highlighted the ”urgent need” for emissions reductions and sustainable practices across these areas. “The Built Environment is the only sector that…

There was a continued slow down in growth in the services sector last month, according to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index from AIB. The index dropped to 50.6 from 50.9 in July, marking the slowest pace of growth since January 2024. The fall was driven by marginal gains in output and new business, and a…