Posts by sean

The Bank of England looks poised to cut interest rates for the fifth time in 12 months today but nagging worries about inflation are likely to split its policymakers and cloud the outlook for its next moves. Governor Andrew Bailey and most of the Monetary Policy Committee are expected to favour taking Bank Rate to…

The Revenue Commissioners has written to almost 70,000 pensioners over issues relating to incorrect tax payments. The retirees are among around 260,000 taxpayers who may have overpaid or underpaid tax for the year 2022. Revenue said the group includes about 68,000 people aged over 65, but it insisted it has not launched a campaign specifically…

The amount of tax collected by the State between January and the end of July was up by 7.5% on the same time last year, when once off payments related to the Apple tax ruling are excluded. The latest Exchequer Returns show that so far this year, €56.2bn in tax receipts were collected, an increase…

US President Donald Trump has said that upcoming tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals could reach 250%, after starting at a lower level, while adding he plans to also unveil fresh duties on foreign semiconductors. “We’ll be putting (an) initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals, but in one year, one-and-a-half years, maximum, it’s going to go to 150%,”…

The value of salary overpayments to Revenue staff reached almost €1.7 million at the end of 2023 with more than one in seven of its workforce getting paid above their proper salaries, according to the findings of an internal audit by the tax authorities. The audit report revealed that 61 Revenue employees had received overpayments…

Growth in the services sector eased again in July, according to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index from AIB. The index dropped to 50.9 from 51.5 in June, marking the slowest pace of growth since January 2024. This was driven by softer output, new business and hiring activity. Three sectors registered growth of activity in July.…

Have you ever googled something but couldn’t remember the answer a short time later? Well, you’re probably not alone. Multiple studies have shown that “digital amnesia” or the “Google effect” is a consequence of having information readily available at our fingertips. It happens because we don’t commit the information to memory in the knowledge that…

Home Building Finance Ireland, which was set up by the Government to fund the delivery of new homes, has grown total loan approvals 13% to €3 billion at the end of June this year. HBFI’s H1 2025 performance update, published today, shows new loan approvals of €336m in the first 6 months of the year.…

New research from the Small Firms Association (SFA), shows that 9 out of 10 small firms are using artificial intelligence (AI) for one or more business processes. The most popular uses for AI were reported to be automation of simple tasks and data analytics reporting. The study found that the main barrier to deeper adoption…

Food prices are estimated to have risen by 4.6% over the last 12 months, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office. Food prices rose by 0.2% in the last month, the CSO added. The CSO today published a flash estimate for inflation which showed the cost of living has risen by 1.6% in…