Posts by sean

Gold raced past $4,000 an ounce for the first time today as investors piled into a historic rally in the safe-haven asset to hedge against global economic and geopolitical uncertainties, while also betting on US interest rate cuts. Spot gold was up 1.3% at $4,034.73 per ounce today, while US gold futures for December delivery…

Google has announced the rollout of its AI mode in Ireland. The company has described the new tool as its most powerful AI search experience with more advanced reasoning and multimodality. From today, AI mode will appear as a tab on the search results page and in the Google app for Android and iOS. Google…

Some Budget measures announced in the Dáil yesterday came into effect at midnight. Yesterday evening, TDs voted to reduce the VAT rate on the sale of completed apartments to 9% from 13.5%. Also from midnight, around two-and-a-half cent has been added to the cost of a litre of petrol and diesel, while tobacco products have…

This Budget has a lot of significant measures aimed at addressing the housing crisis. The largest step will be reducing the VAT on sale of apartments from 13.5% to 9%. The idea is that it would kick start stalled projects which have received planning but have not proceeded because they are not currently financially viable.…

There will be no one-off energy credits next year while increases in carbon tax will add around 2.5c to the cost of a litre of motor fuels from tomorrow. Between April 2022 and February 2025, Irish households received nine credits to their electricity bills, worth €1,500 and costing the State almost €3bn. However, as expected,…

A total of €2.3bn has been allocated to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for 2026. Aside from the €85m in additional funding for bovine TB eradication, there will be a €20m increase in spending on the ACRES scheme, with funding to reach €280m in 2026. The scheme supports over 53,000 farmers in…

The Government has described Budget 2026 as “sensible” and one which will “protect jobs and protect growth” in Ireland given an uncertain global economy. But some Opposition members have described it as “very disappointing”, with “ordinary people left in the cold” given a lack of a distinct cost-of-living package and no changes to personal income…

A record level of total funding of €27.4bn will be allocated to the Department of Health for 2026. The overall health budget next year will be over €27.3bn, which includes current and capital spending. It represents an increase of €1.5bn or 6.2%. Day to day spending will be over €25.7bn – an increase of 5%…

Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers has announced an increase in the standard capitation rates paid to all schools. This will include, on a per pupil basis, €50 for primary and special schools (from €224 to €274), and €20 for post-primary schools (from €386 to €406). In addition, Mr Chambers said the Department’s €1.6bn capital…

The Government has announced a weekly increase of €10 per person in a range of social protection payments from 2026, including: the State pension, disability allowance, carer’s allowance, jobseeker’s allowance and one-parent family payment. A Christmas bonus of a double payment for recipients of long-term social welfare schemes will be paid again this year. The…