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Confidence among small business owners has notably improved, according to a new report from the Small Firms Association (SFA). The latest Small Business Sentiment survey shows that over half of SFA members feel that the business environment is improving, compared with just 35% last summer. “Despite the challenges faced by our small business community in…

The first in-person meeting of the G7 countries since the start of the pandemic takes place in London today. Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe will attend the two-day meeting in his capacity as President of the Eurogroup – the collective term for informal meetings of the finance ministers of the eurozone. He said ministers are…

Ireland should borrow more to invest in housing and could borrow an additional €4bn to €7bn a year, according to a new analysis by the Economic and Social Research Institute. It comes as the Covid-19 pandemic has forced the suspension of Europe’s fiscal rules on government borrowing and sparked a debate over how much countries…

Activity in the services sector expanded at the fastest pace in over five years in May, according to AIB. Its latest Purchasing Managers’ Index, a month-on-month check-up on conditions in the sector, pointed to a marked pick up in growth as pent-up demand was released with the loosening of pandemic restrictions. The services sector accounts…

The European Central Bank will not change the total size of its asset purchase programme at its June 10 meeting but will start tapering its pandemic purchases later this year, according to a Reuters poll which also showed inflation risks to the upside. With an economic recovery underway and price pressures rising, calls for winding…

The Cabinet has agreed that owners of new homes built since 2013 will now have to pay Local Property Tax. It follows a decision taken at a meeting to finalise the new €3.5 billion Economic Recovery Plan. Taoiseach Micheál Martin, alongside Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan announced the Government’s plan, which…

People aged under 25 are almost six times more likely to be in temporary work than their older counterparts, according to a new study on decent work by the ESRI and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The research entitled “Monitoring Decent Work in Ireland” finds that young people, along with Travellers, people with…

Hotels, B&Bs, self-catering accommodation and hostels can reopen from today, as the gradual lifting of Covid-19 restrictions on the tourism and hospitality sector begins. However, services including leisure facilities, as well as indoor restaurants and bars, are restricted to residents only. Around 65,000 people were employed by hotels pre-pandemic, with 270,000 employed in the wider…

New figures show that the number of mortgages approved were up 0.9% in April on a monthly basis, while they rose by over 98% compared with the same time last year. Banking & Payments Federation Ireland said a total of 4,362 mortgages were approved in April. First-time buyers (FTBs) were approved for 54.8% of the…

The Government will unveil its Economic Recovery Plan later today, which is expected to lay out a roadmap for the economy as it emerges from the impact of Covid-19. There will be many different aspects to today’s Recovery Plan. Much attention will be focused on the detail of the planned withdrawal of the Pandemic Unemployment…