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The State’s independent financial watchdog has warned that Government spending was rising much faster than planned. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council said “poor budgeting” was mostly to blame. It said current spending is up 6% so far this year, which was well above the 1.4% outlined in the Budget. It added: “This is because earlier…

Rent caps for new tenancies are to be eased as part of a plan expected to go to Cabinet next week. The Government looks set to change the current Rent Pressure Zones (RPZs) in a move that has already been strongly criticised by opposition parties. Intensive discussions have taken place on this politically sensitive issue…

Bank of Ireland has issued a warning over what it calls a dramatic increase in reports and cases of attempted so-called ‘safe account’ scams. The lender is advising customers to be “on particular alert” for fraudulent texts that attempt to lure them into calling a fake bank phone line. According to the bank, the scammer…

Rents for newly-built properties will no longer be capped at 2% annually but will instead be tied to the rate of inflation under plans set to be considered by Cabinet next week. Changes to the Rent Pressure Zones will be brought to Government by Minister for Housing James Browne on Tuesday. The move is aimed…

Economic growth, including the contribution from multinationals or Gross Domestic Product, soared by 9.7% in the first three months of this year as exports to the US ramped up ahead of tariffs being imposed by the Trump administration. The figures were affected by strong exports from the pharmaceutical sector in Ireland particularly in March. “The…

Taxes collected by the State rose by 3.6% in the first five months of the year to €36.4bn, according to latest Exchequer Returns from the Department of Finance. When some funds from iPhone-maker Apple, which was forced to pay back taxes as part of settlement of up to €14bn to Ireland are included, the amount…

The ECB has cut interest rates for the eighth time in a year by one-quarter of a percentage point, which brings its rate down from 2.25% to 2% The move will immediately benefit tracker mortgage customers and put downward pressure on other rates. With inflation now safely in line with its 2% target, today’s decision…

Bulgaria has met all criteria to adopt the euro currency from 1 January 2026, the European Central Bank said after assessing progress on a host of indicators from inflation to central bank legislation. “This positive assessment of convergence paves the way for Bulgaria to introduce the euro as of 1 January 2026 and become the…

The European Central Bank is widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point later today. The move would bring its main rate to 2% which would automatically benefit tracker mortgage customers and feed through to many other borrowers. The ECB’s move comes after inflation in the countries that use the…

The pace of growth in the country’s services sector picked up in May, according to the latest purchasing managers index from AIB. The seasonally adjusted index rose from 52.8 in April to 54.7 last month – with any figure above 50 representing growth. But export growth was more subdued, while optimism around activity in the…