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Rental prices increased by 2.7% nationally to stand at an average of €1,256 a month by the end of last year, according to the latest figures from the Residential Tenancies Board. That compares to an increase of 6.4% in 2019. Dublin had the highest rents where the average price was €1,745 per month, a 2.1%…

Europe is facing a difficult second quarter as coronavirus infections rise and governments reimpose lockdown measures, but the European Central Bank will do its part to keep borrowing costs ultra low, ECB chief economist Philip Lane said today.  Fearing that rising borrowing costs would derail the recovery, the ECB earlier this month promised to ramp…

The increase in Government spending in response to the Covid pandemic over the first three quarters of last year was the second highest in the euro area, according to a report published by the Central Bank.  In an ‘Economic Letter’ which sets out the views of Central Bank economists rather than the Bank itself, the…

Half of restaurants face permanent closure in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the lobby group which represents the industry.  The Restaurants Association of Ireland will tomorrow call for the VAT reduction from 13.5% to 9%, which was introduced late last year, to remain in place until 2025.  It will also demand that…

56% of employers who availed of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme were overpaid under the scheme, and owe a total of €224m to the Revenue Commissioners by the end of June. This is according to the latest figures published by Revenue today.  66,500 employers availed of the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme on behalf of 664,000 employees…

A public consultation on enhancing and reforming the remit of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board (PIAB) begins today. Launched by the Minister for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Robert Troy, it is part of the Government’s Action Plan for Insurance Reform. The objective of the consultation is to enhance the board’s remit, to bring…

The average loss to a small and medium enterprise here arising from fraud stood at just below €4,000 last year, according to research carried out by Bank of Ireland. The most common way in which an SME experienced fraud was via an invoice that appeared to be from a vendor but contained amended bank account…

There was a time in the last decade when the Central Bank’s mortgage arrears figures were as keenly anticipated as the property price figures from the Central Statistics Office. They’ve gradually slipped from public and media focus as the years have passed, but the problem hasn’t gone away. There remains a significant number of residential…

There was a marginal decline in the number of mortgage accounts on private residences that were in arrears at the end of December, according to the Central Bank. 54,986 mortgage accounts were in some form of arrears by the end of the year, a decline of 0.8% – or 462 accounts – over the three…

Essential workers including those in retail, transport, cleaning and food service should receive a living wage with access to an occupational pension, according to the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar. However, addressing a seminar of the Employment Bar Association, Mr Varadkar failed to indicate any time frame for when the…