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The need for builders, company pension schemes and pandemic birth rates

The best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

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Mark Hilliard
Fri May 10 2024 - 06:41

Ireland will need some way to find more construction workers if it ever intends to meet its housing targets, according to the latest bulletin from the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC). As Laura Slattery reports, the Council has pointed out that the country’s lingering housing crisis is “inhibiting Ireland’s competitiveness performance”. In an echo of previous warnings, it notes the situation threatens to undermine sustainable growth and wellbeing.

With a new era of auto-enrolment pensions on the horizon, Dominic Coyle explains how many companies are looking at ways of getting staff on existing occupational schemes rather than juggling both. The Government’s compulsory workplace pension scheme is coming next year. It is expected to have the greatest impact on the retail sector where, according to Irish Life, average participation rates in occupational schemes can be as low as 10 to 20 per cent.

Waterland Ireland, the Irish arm of the Dutch private equity group which arrived here in 2019, is set to invest in the cross-Border electrical wholesaler Bellew Electrical, Ian Curran reports. The value of the deal is not known, but it will match the group with the Crossmaglen, Co Armagh company and its founders Oliver and Michael Bellew who are pursuing what was described as an ambitious growth plan. Bellew Electrical Wholesale sells electrical goods in the construction industry.

Ireland’s annual rate of inflation dropped again last month, to 2.6 per cent from 2.9 per cent – marking the fourth successive monthly decline. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports on the latest Central Statistics Office data which shows the lowest reading in almost three years, and in the aftermath of a decline in global energy prices.

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Co-Down based civil engineering and construction group Graham is to undertake a major redevelopment of the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. The storied sports ground, reports Ian Curran, will be extended by at least 1,100 seats.

With the Revenue deadline finally passed for the recoupment – or planned recoupment – of pandemic-era warehoused debt, over 11,700 businesses have now received letters of demand. As Jack White reports, those that do not engage with the tax authority before May 15th, stand to lose the scheme’s benefits, including its 0 per cent interest rate.

Latest data from the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) shows a considerable uptick in “green” loans. Laura Slattery explains that such lending – relating to home improvements that enhance energy efficiency as well as financing EV and hybrid car purchase – jumped by 92 per cent last year.

Access to childcare, a thorny issue never far from the political fray, must not only be improved upon but must be viewed as a critical aspect of Ireland’s economic machine. This is the view of the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies Ireland (CCAB-I) – the forum comprising Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI), the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants – which is calling on Government to address the situation in the forthcoming budget, writes Ian Curran. One would imagine they will not be alone.

At 31, Ireland has the oldest average age for first-time mothers in the EU. Significant changes have been made to make Ireland more family-friendly, but birth rates have continued to fall. In his column, John FitzGerald takes a broader look at how the pandemic affected fertility, or not. It acted as a kind of social laboratory test – younger people were less able to meet, while those in established relationships had more time together at home. There is an opportunity for the world to understand how such factors played out.

In a trading update, Irish Ferries owner Irish Continental Group (ICG) reported a jump in its container and freight volumes early this year, a welcome break from a challenging 2023. Ian Curran reports on the figures, which also show revenue growth to €177 million in the five months to May.

Ryanair has increased its financial backing for research into sustainable air travel at Trinity College Dublin. The carrier, writes Barry O’Halloran, has pledged a further €2.5 million to the eponymous Ryanair Sustainable Aviation Research Centre.

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