Business

‘Putting a brake on Dublin Airport risks economic future’, McGrath warns

Seen & heard: McGrath’s airport intervention, BoI’s potential UK compensation bill and Ireland missing out on billions in AI data centre investment

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath: Dublin Airport was a “proven engine of growth” for the country. Photograph: Alan Betson

Sun Feb 4 2024 - 11:03

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has thrown his support behind airlines’ calls for an urgent increase in the passenger cap at Dublin Airport, according to the Business Post.

In a significant intervention, Mr McGrath has echoed calls from business groups that the airport is critically important to the economy.

The Minister said that Dublin Airport was a “proven engine of growth” for the country and a “significant national asset” that is “central to Ireland’s economic prosperity”.

“Putting a brake on the airport’s ability to grow would in my view have negative consequences for Ireland, and would limit our growth prospects in the future,” he said.

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The cap has become a key issue for businesses and a deepening fault line between the Green Party and its Coalition partners, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

Bank of Ireland could face €160m bill for compensation after UK watchdog review into car loan practices, analysts warn

Bank of Ireland may face a redress bill worth up to €160m off the back of a UK watchdog review into motor finance commissions, according to analysts at Barclays, according to the Sunday Independent.

Last month, the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s top financial regulator, launched an investigation into historical commission agreements by car dealers stretching back to 2007.

State spent €2.5m on immigration interviews

The cost of an independent panel created to interview asylum seekers has tripled in three years from €760,000 in 2021 to more than €2.5 million last year, The Sunday Times has learned.

In the past four years the state has spent more than €7.4 million on panellists appointed by the International Protection Office (IPO) to help reduce the caseloads. The number of panel members rose last year to 184 at the end of November, an increase from 56 in 2021. It is understood that more are likely to be appointed.

The panel, made up of barristers or those with experience in immigration or international protection, cost €1.66 million in 2019, €870,000 in 2020, €760,000 in 2021, €1.59 million in 2022 and €2.53 million last year.

Irish firm sues PayPal over alleged misappropriation of its technology

PayPal, one of the largest financial technology companies globally, is facing claims its online payments business was built on trade secrets “misappropriated” from an Irish firm, according to the Sunday Independent.

In a complaint filed in a Texas court, Irish patent licensing company Internet Payments Patents Limited has sued PayPal, alleging its trade secrets, including the structure, function, and operation of its payment architecture, were “misappropriated and misused” by the online payments giant.

Closed for business

Ireland is losing out on billions of euros in foreign investment due to the continuing absence of a clear Government policy on data centres, an article in the Sunday Business Post said.

Senior industry figures said that Ireland is becoming increasingly unattractive to foreign investors looking to build data centres to power AI projects due to the state’s creaking energy system.

Peter Lantry, managing director of the Irish arm of Equinix, the $80-billion infrastructure developer, said his company is not considering Ireland as a potential location for future large-scale investments.

“We’re no longer looking at Ireland for larger scale sites, which are projects that come with €500 million of an investment. There was a big red X put strategically through Ireland when we realised it was closed for business for larger investments. So Ireland is just not going to win those projects until there’s a more business-friendly environment for data,” Lantry warned.

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