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Mortgage rates in Ireland still remain elevated compared to the country’s euro zone neighbours, new Central Bank figures show. Ireland had the third highest mortgage interest rates across the euro area in September, the Central Bank said, with only Greece and Latvia higher.  The average interest rate on new mortgages agreed here stood at 2.78%…

Ulster Bank is urging online shoppers to be on the lookout for more than just bargains this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with criminals increasingly targeting unsuspecting shoppers on some of the busiest e-commerce days of the year.  Ulster Bank’s annual fraud survey, which questioned 927 online shoppers, shows an increased awareness when it comes…

The ESB has teamed up with a Chinese-owned firm to develop a €3bn-plus wind farm off the coast of Scotland. It’s the second major Scottish offshore wind farm project that the semi-State ESB has signed up to in the past year. In its latest deal, the ESB has inked a 50-50 joint venture with Edinburgh-based…

The pandemic has prompted people to put more emphasis on the need to plan for their financial future. More than six out of 10 people said they now see planning for their financial futures as more important than they did prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. However, less than half of those surveyed said they are…

The gap between the highest and lowest mortgage rates has stretched to a five-year record. It comes after the launch of a mortgage rate of less than 2pc which has driven a surge in switching activity. The new rate is the lowest in this market for 12 years. The gap in rates means the difference…

The European Union will impose tariffs on American goods worth $4bn starting today in a tit-for-tat escalation over illegal aid to aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus. EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis yesterday expressed a preference to negotiate a settlement, saying the bloc would drop its duties if the US withdrew the tariffs it imposed on…

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…

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…