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A recruitment freeze at the Health Service Executive is to end today after it was introduced last October. Its termination was confirmed yesterday by HSE CEO Bernard Gloster. The embargo was extended in November to include all categories of staff, with the exception of consultants, doctors in training and nurses and midwives who graduated last…

The European Central Bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged on Thursday, giving the euro zone time to digest last month’s first cut since 2019 as the inflation path remains unpredictable. ECB governors lowered the closely-watched deposit rate from a record 4% to 3.75% at their June meeting, following an unprecedented campaign of monetary…

Small and medium sized businesses lost almost €10m through email-related scams last year. The number of cases reported by SMEs increased almost 25% when compared with 2022. The figures published by FraudSMART, the fraud awareness initiative led by Banking & Payments Federation Ireland, show that companies were conned out of an average of €12,000. The…

Euro zone bond yields edged higher after a sharp drop the previous day on the back of weaker-than-expected US inflation data. German 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the euro zone bloc, rose 2 basis points (bps) to 2.493%, but was on track to end the week around 4 bps lower after dropping 7 bps…

Over 100,000 rooftop solar microgenerators have now been connected to Ireland’s electricity network, according to ESB Networks, cumulatively adding over 400MW of clean energy onto the power system. ESB Networks said 20% of solar panel connections were delivered in the past six months, and it is continuing to progress applications at a rate of 750…

A new resource to help businesses access a range of government supports called the National Enterprise Hub has been launched today by Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke. The Hub is described as a one-stop shop which brings together information and resources on over 180 supports from 19 Departments and state agencies. It will be staffed…

Minister for Finance Jack Chambers has pointed to “many more challenges facing our economy,” along with “threats” and “vulnerabilities present in our public finances”. Following turbulence in recent years, he told the Oireachtas Committee on Budgetary Oversight that the “economy has weathered these shocks remarkably well and now appears to have entered a period of…

The State’s fiscal watchdog has claimed that the Government is adopting an ‘everything now’ approach of current spending increases, tax cuts and increased investment for next year’s budget. Responding to the publication yesterday of the Summer Economic Statement, the Irish Fiscal Advisory (IFAC) also said that by breaking its own rule limiting spending increases to…

Planned new laws aimed at ensuring enhanced benefits for those with a strong work history who become unemployed have passed through the Oireachtas. Under the new rules, the weekly rate of payment for people who have at least five years paid PRSI contributions will be set at 60% of previous earnings, subject to a maximum…

Year-on-year wage growth in Ireland was 4.3% in June, up slightly from the 4% to 4.1% range recorded since the start of this year, according to new research. The data is contained in the latest report in a wage growth series from jobs website Indeed.ie and the Central Bank of Ireland. It shows that despite…