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More than a third of insurance firms are worried about the cost of claims, particularly from Covid-19, while 60 per cent fear they will see a reduction in premium volumes as a result of the economic fallout from the crisis. That is according to a PwC/Insurance Ireland CEO survey. It found that 35 per cent…

The Minister for Foreign Affairs said a Joe Biden presidency may make some difference to Brexit negotiations, adding that the US president-elect is a “real friend to Ireland” and supporter of the Good Friday Agreement.  Simon Coveney said the US and UK are close allies but the fact that Mr Biden will be the next US president…

Credit and debit card spending dropped following the introduction of Level 5 restrictions, according to the latest data from the Central Bank. As seen with the original restrictions in March, the figures show that spending increased in the days leading up to the new restrictions being introduced, and in this case peaked on the day…

UK trade with the EU will face “significant disruption” when the Brexit transition ends, regardless of whether a trade deal is agreed, the UK government spending watchdog has warned. The National Audit Office (NAO) said preparations for the new border controls – which had already been rated “high risk” – had been further hampered by…

Improving trends in the housing market should help banks restore some of their lost income from depressed mortgage activity, according to Goodbody. The stockbroker said it expected mortgage lending to decline 20pc this year to €7.6bn – better than the previous estimate of €6.9bn before growing in 2021 to €8.6bn. The change in forecast followed…

Housing output was not as severely affected by the pandemic restrictions as previously thought, according to Goodbody. Its latest BER Housebuilding Tracker – which it calculates using data from Building Energy Regulation certificates – estimates that 5,500 units were completed in the third quarter of the year. That was up from 3,290 in the second…

Former head of the Revenue Commissioners Josephine Feehily is to head up a new commission that will make recommendations to the Government on the age that people will qualify for the State pension. Ms Feehily has also chaired the Policing Authority since she stepped down from her role leading the tax authority. The new Commission…

Prime and secondary retail rents could fall by 11pc and 13pc respectively over the 12 months to the end of September 2021 according to the latest survey of Irish chartered surveyors. At the same time prime and secondary office rents are expected to fall by a respective 5pc and 7pc over the same period according…

Business activity for Ireland’s services sector suffered a second monthly decline in October as uncertainty over the pandemic and Brexit hit expectations, according to the AIB Ireland Services PMI. The “renewed downturn” in activity followed a brief period of growth in July and August after the economy re-opened following the first Covid-19 lockdown. The rate…

Almost 330,000 people will receive the Pandemic Unemployment Payment this week – up over 11% in the last seven days, according to the latest Department of Social Protection figures. The figure reflects the continuing upward trajectory of unemployment since Level 5 restrictions were imposed by the Government in a bid to quell the latest surge…