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Sterling fell to a 12-day low against the US dollar and the euro today as Brexit talks veered into fresh crisis after Britain threatened to undermine its European Union divorce deal.   The pound was down 1% at $1.3145, its lowest level since August 26, while against the euro, it touched a low of 89.90…

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar says he does not believe a free trade agreement can be reached if the UK does not honour the UK EU Withdrawal Agreement. Mr Varadkar said he hopes that proposed new Brexit-related Westminster legislation is simply “sabre rattling”, adding that  the strategy and behaviour of…

The UK has demanded “more realism” from the European Union ahead of crucial post-Brexit trade talks, which get under way in London. However, the mood was soured by reports that the British government was looking to rewrite the Withdrawal Agreement that the two sides have already signed. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator David…

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the economy contracted by 6.1% during the second quarter of 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 restrictions – the biggest quarterly drop ever recorded. This means the economy is now in recession after an initial estimate that it expanded in the first quarter was…

The euro zone’s recovery ran out of steam midway through the third quarter, with gauges of activity pointing to contractions in Italy and Spain. While manufacturing output rose markedly in August, the larger services sector saw only marginal growth, according to an IHS Markit report. Orders increased at a slower pace, job cuts continued and…

The amount of tax being collected by the State has continued to defy the scale of the pandemic economic crash but nowhere near enough to fund ballooning spending, new Exchequer data shows. The State recorded a deficit of €9.452bn for the nine months to the end of August as government spending dramatically outstrips income. Tax…

The public finances recorded a deficit of €9.5bn at the end of August according to the latest Exchequer Returns.  This compares to a deficit of €625m recorded at the same point last year. The €8.8bn deterioration is largely due to increases in government spending.  The increase in spending is concentrated in the departments of Health and Employment Affairs…

The loss of international tourists to Ireland is costing the tourism and hospitality sector €27m a day. That’s according to the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) which says 200,000 jobs are at risk if the Government does not take action to support the industry. “Tourism is facing an existential crisis and Government must listen to…

ctivity in the services sector grew for the second month in a row in August, and at a slightly faster pace despite repeatedly stalled moves to fully reopen the economy.  Ireland has opted for a more cautious exit from its coronovirus lockdown and has paused the fourth and final stage of its plan since July,…

As the new Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme goes live today, the Revenue Commissioners has confirmed that more than 22,100 employers have registered for the scheme.  To qualify for the scheme, employers must have tax clearance showing their taxes are in order. The Revenue Commissioners says there have been more than 16,800 applications for tax clearance since 17…