Weekend Digest

SEEN OR HEARD:THE NUMBER of Irish patent applications filed by Irish companies last year was down by almost a third compared to 2010, the Sunday Business Post reports.

Statistics from the Irish Patent Office show 561 patent applications were filed in 2011, compared to 792 in 2010 and 961 in 2009.

The drop suggests the number of Irish companies inventing and designing new products has fallen sharply, the paper states.

Martin Shanagher, controller at the Irish Patent Office, said the recession was continuing to affect the filing of applications, the report added.

* DEVELOPER LIAM Carroll transferred €15 million into a personal pension fund prior to the collapse of his property empire, two Sunday newspapers report.

Articles in the Sunday Business Post and Sunday Times state a subsidiary of the Carroll firm Zelderbridge issued €27 million in unguaranteed loans to Carroll’s pension fund and companies controlled by the developer during the boom. About €15 million of the total went into Carroll’s pension pot.

Ulster Bank appointed receivers to Zelderbridge, the Sunday Times reports, noting the company has €985 million in bank loans and a deficit of €600 million. It says that more than €200 million of the company’s loans have transferred to Nama.

* ESB WORKERS could benefit from cash windfalls of nearly €40,000 when an internal market for the company’s shares is established later this month, according to a report in the Sunday Business Post.

Staff and pensioners own 5 per cent of ESB through the company’s employee share ownership programme (Esop). On September 21st, the company will allow Esop members to sell the shares on an internal market to other Esop members for the first time, the paper states.

The new internal market, which is to be run by PricewaterhouseCoopers, will allow Esop members to sell half of their shareholding on the market over the next three years.

Esop members must nominate a price by September 14th for the first annual sale, which will take place a week later, the paper adds.

It is understood the Revenue approved the scheme in April, according to the report.

It also says about 50 per cent of the Esop shareholding is understood to be in the hands of retired staff.