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The Central Bank has raised questions about the shared equity scheme proposed by Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien to help first-time home buyers. In a letter to the Oireachtas Housing Committee, the bank said the initiative could result in “upward pressure on house prices” if demand for homes increases. The letter by the bank’s Director of…

51% of businesses plan to adopt remote working on a permanent basis, according to new research carried out by CIPD Ireland. The data was published by the umbrella body for Human Resources and learning and development, to mark 12 months of living and working with Covid-19 restrictions. The findings show that over three-quarters agreed workers…

A shift away from the UK as a destination for European job seekers post-Brexit is manifesting in increased interest in certain categories of Irish jobs, according to research from online recruitment company Indeed. Under the UK’s new immigration regime, which ends freedom of movement and requires applicants to meet certain criteria, European workers are finding it…

Homeowners could face increased buildings insurance premiums because of a hike in the cost of rebuilding a home, according to a report from the Society of Chartered Surveyors. The latest Guide to House Rebuilding Costs shows that the national average outlay associated with rebuilding has increased by an average of 7.3% over the past 18…

The initial shutdown of the construction sector for seven weeks during the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic knocked €2bn off construction output last year. That is according to a report carried out by EY DKM on behalf of the Construction Industry Federation.  Analysing official data, the report concluded that the shutdown – which started…

The value of contactless payments rose by almost 30% year on year in January to €674m as consumers took advantage of the extended ‘tapping’ limit of €50, according to figures from the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. Contactless accounted for less than half of all card payments in January, despite the increase in the tapping…

Britain has delayed by around six months its plans to introduce a range of post-Brexit border checks on goods imported from the European Union, saying it had listened to businesses which needed more time to prepare. The immediate introduction of checks and paperwork on goods exported from Britain into Europe has delayed the arrivals of…

The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, has confirmed that the three banks in which the state has shares utilised loss reliefs of almost €500m against their corporation tax bill over a three year period. In a written Dail reply to Labour Finance spokesman, Ged Nash, Minister Donohoe confirmed that AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB (PTSB) have utilised tax losses of €493m against their corporation…

A third of the world’s biggest banks still have no board members with professional technology experience, skills needed to help lenders make better decisions as they increase investments on IT, a new study by consultancy Accenture showed today.  Accenture analysed almost 2,000 directors at more than 100 large banks. It found that only 10% of…

Applications for the €60m Small Business Assistance Scheme for Covid-19 have opened today.  The SBASC scheme is in addition to the package the Government has put in place to help businesses and workers during the pandemic. These other supports include the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS), the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP), the Covid Restrictions Support…