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Members of the US Congress are to receive a briefing today on the latest Brexit developments from Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney and European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič. The ‘Friends of Ireland’ caucus, a bipartisan group on Capitol Hill, will receive the briefing amid concerns in Washington over last week’s decision by the UK government…

The Economic and Social Research Institute has revised downwards its forecast for growth in the economy this year.  In an opening statement to the Oireachtas Committee on Budgetary Oversight, Karina Doorley and Kieran McQuinn say their assumptions about restrictions this year made in their last published Commentary in December, had not factored in a level…

The Cabinet will this morning consider a proposal from Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien to extend protections for tenants whose incomes have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Residential Tenancies and Valuation Bill is due to lapse on 12 April, but it is set to be renewed for three months. The legislation protects tenants from eviction…

47% of prospective homebuyers think prices will rise by up to 10% in the coming year, according to a new survey from property website MyHome.ie. A similar survey carried out last November, showed that just 26% of respondents said the same, while only 15% agreed with that sentiment last August. The most recent survey of…

A senior Central Bank representative will tell an Oireachtas Committee today that the regulatory framework requires further strengthening when it comes to holding individuals to account for breaches. The comments, contained in an opening statement for this afternoon’s session before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, follow the handing…

The number of women holding senior leadership roles in Irish businesses improved in the past year, growing from 31% in 2020 to 33% in 2021, according to research included in the Women in Business 2021 Report published by Grant Thornton. Globally this figure sits at 30%, an important milestone for businesses internationally, but not the…

Consumer spending fell again in February as the impact of the full coronavirus lockdown continued to bite, new figures from digital banking app Revolut show.  Revolut said that overall spending by its Irish customers in February this year was 19% lower than in February 2020. Consumer spending was also 2% down on January 2021, it…

February saw another steep contraction in construction activity here due to the coronavirus lockdown restrictions. Ulster Bank’s Construction Purchasing Managers’ index remained well below the 50 no-change mark in February, despite rising to 27 from 21.2 in January. A reading above 50 signal an increase in activity on the previous month and readings below 50…

The Taoiseach has said that as the Covid-19 pandemic is brought under control there will be a need to move away from the extensive and wide-ranging emergency supports put in place by the Government to help businesses and workers.  However, Micheál Martin said the changes would be phased, in line with the public health advice,…

The Minister for Finance has warned that it is dangerous for a small economy that cannot print its own currency to think that “deficits don’t matter” when evaluating policy options in the future. Addressing an Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) event, Paschal Donohoe said, in order to keeping the interest bill on the national…