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Employers’ group Ibec has called for Ireland’s international travel restrictions to be ended and for testing and tracing to be used in place of “ineffective” quarantine measures. People entering Ireland from abroad currently have to quarantine themselves for 14 days upon arrival into the country. Ibec CEO Danny McCoy said there were benefits from quarantine…

Consumer sentiment improved in June for the second month in a row, but remains well below levels recorded before the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, a survey showed today.  The KBC Bank consumer sentiment index climbed to 61.6 in June from 52.3 in May, but remains some distance from February’s pre-pandemic reading of 85.2.  In…

Growth in the Irish economy averaged 5.2% per annum from 2013 to 2018, according to an analysis of new CSO data. In a Special Article for the ESRI, Professor John Fitzgerald describes a measure, called Net National Product, as the best picture of the “economic welfare of those living in Ireland”. For years, the traditional measure of…

A trade union has warned employers of an “industrial war” if they try to renege on pay and pension agreements with workers. It comes after the High Court yesterday deemed legislation allowing for the setting of legally enforceable pay and conditions for workers in various employment sectors to be unconstitutional. The Connect Trade Union, which represents workers…

A survey of hoteliers has found that average national occupancy levels are set to dramatically fall from the highs of over 70% last year to just over 30% this year. Dublin occupancy levels are forecast to be down by half with regional levels down almost 40%.   As a result, Dublin hotels expect to be…

A Government fund aimed at helping small and medium-sized enterprises to reopen and rebuild – as the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions are eased – needs to be at least quadrupled in size, according to employers’ group Ibec. Ibec also said that loans with 100% State-backed credit guarantees and an interest rate holiday of 12 months are required if small…

The impact of Covid-19 on how consumers are spending is recorded in the latest figures from the banking sector. In May, consumers spent €600 million using contactless payments, the highest monthly figure on record. The figures were compiled by Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. Every day in May, more than €19 million was spent using…

Global trade is expected to drop around 18.5% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2020 in a huge coronavirus-driven plunge which nonetheless could have been much worse, the WTO said today.  “Initial estimates for the second quarter, when the virus and associated lockdown measures affected a large share of the global population, indicate a year-on-year…

Decisions taken in the next six months will impact the small and medium enterprise sector for the next five years, according to a treasury specialist who works closely with the sector. John Finn, Managing Director of Treasury Solutions – which helps businesses deal with a range of issues including cash flow, lending and currency management…

465,900 people are now receiving the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment – a drop of 32,800 over the last week. This is according to the latest figures from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection today.  At the peak of the Covid-19 crisis, 598,000 people who had lost their jobs were claiming the Pandemic Unemployment Payment. Since…