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New figures from the Environmental Protection Agency show that greenhouse gas emissions from Irish power generation and industrial companies fell by 8.7% last year.  This mirrors a decrease of about 8.9% across Europe in 2019 and comes despite the country’s strong economic growth during the year. The EPA said the decrease in emissions was due…

Europe’s banks are expected to have to set aside billions for potential loan losses as well as take profit hits because of the coronavirus crisis when they start reporting results over the next two weeks.  The region’s banks were already under pressure before the crisis with high costs, low returns, and demands to fix outdated…

Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe has said that at the end of the 12-week introduction period he will be “tapering and changing” the Covid-19 pandemic welfare subsidies. Mr Donohoe said the welfare subsidies “cannot be sustained indefinitely”, but they can be sustained for long enough to allow incomes to be protected “for…

Brent crude oil rose today after slumping below $16 a barrel to its lowest since 1999, supported by voluntary as well as the prospect of forced production cuts to tackle a glut caused by the coronavirus crisis.  This month, OPEC+ agreed new oil output curbs but global measures to prevent the virus spreading have driven…

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that residential property prices increased by 1.1% nationally in the year to February.  The CSO said this compares with an increase of 1.1% in the year to January and an increase of 4.3% the same time last year. Today’s figures lag a coronavirus-related collapse in housing transactions. …

There are over 45,100 employers registered with Revenue for the Covid-19 Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme, according to the latest figures from Revenue. Over 30,800 employers have already received subsidy payments under the scheme, and over 281,200 employees have already received at least one payment. Today, Revenue has generated further subsidy payments under the scheme worth…

Construction is resuming on 35 social housing projects to ensure local authorities can deliver accommodation for people currently in emergency accommodation or at risk of homelessness during the current pandemic, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government confirmed. However, the Construction Industry Federation has warned members that if they do not comply rigorously with…

Over one million people are now either fully or partially dependent on the State for income support, according to the latest figures from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.  584,000 people are now receiving the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment introduced just over a month ago.  The latest figures indicate that 50,000 of those…

The price of agricultural land dropped by 6% last year, according to the latest review from the Society of Chartered Surveyors and Teagasc. The average price for an acre of land nationally was €8,823 in 2019, down from €9,346 in 2018. Munster recorded the biggest yearly fall in selling price at 9%, while selling prices…

The price of a litre of fuel has fallen significantly in recent weeks. However, with personal movement restricted to within a two kilometre radius of everyone’s home, the benefit of the price reduction is not being felt by many, other than those who need to carry out essential work. Why are prices falling and how…