Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has pledged that the Government will safeguard taxpayers’ money used to fund a controversial €450 million plan to help people in buying city centre apartments, write Barry O’Halloran and Jennifer Bray. Under the heavily criticised Croí Cónaithe plan, the Government will pay developers €450 million in subsidies to cut the cost of building 5,000 apartments in the Republic’s cities, making these homes more affordable.
Separately, Barry O’Halloran reports on claims from prominent builder Michael O’Flynn that policymakers continue to ignore that high construction costs are a big contributor to the Republic’s housing crisis.
Abbott’s Cavan milk formula plant is still providing the bulk of emergency shipments as the US administration tries to mitigate a baby food crisis, reports Dominic Coyle. Shortages of formula in the US since the Food and Drug Administration shut an Abbott milk formula plant in Michigan on safety grounds have left many parents struggling to feed their babies. Meanwhile, an England-based formula supplier with strong Irish links is eyeing new opportunities.
Regulators in Liechtenstein have backed a deal by Galway businessman Declan Ganley’s Rivada Networks to take control of a company that owns a licence to launch a system of laser-connected space broadband satellites. The system could end up competing with Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper space satellite systems. Mark Paul has the story.
Despite his attacks on the ‘fake news media’, Trump remains an avid, old-school news junkie
David McWilliams: Europe has lost its mojo. Thankfully Ireland is in bed with the US
Fall of the house of Assad: a dynasty built on the banality of evil
Former Tory minister Steve Baker: ‘Ireland has been treated badly by the UK. It’s f**king shaming’
A Davos without snow was also a Davos with about 1,000 fewer attendees (many of the empty chairs were Russian) and a mood weighed down by war and inflation, writes Joe Brennan, who spent this week hobnobbing with the elite so you didn’t have to. He writes that Ukraine, the state of the world economy and a mounting international food crisis dominated proceedings at the annual World Economic Gathering, but that delegates, including Martin Shanahan of IDA Ireland, still worked hard to make a success of their time in the mountain resort.
As negative commentary swirls around costs and capacity in the State’s tourism industry, Mark Paul considers what he views as muddled official policies on the sector in general. He sees a political attitude “that leads to poor policymaking, which makes the tourism agencies’ jobs all the harder”.
John FitzGerald has delved into a new report from the Independent Fiscal Commission Northern Ireland, which examines how best the North could develop its own sources of revenue to give greater independence in decision-making to the Northern Executive. Devolution of income tax revenue, a key part of this, would only make sense if a competent and well-functioning Executive with the skills and vision to grow the economy could be put in place, he argues.
Are you stressed at work? Olive Keogh writes that while employers have a role to play in dealing with such pressures, employees can do their bit by taking the 15-minute challenge. What you do during these 15 minutes is up to you, but suggestions include meditation, yoga, a short walk or a simple cup of tea — whatever helps the calming process.
This week’s Wild Goose is Jordan Lawlor, who moved to Los Angeles last year to work in the entertainment business. The native of Clondalkin in Dublin and Kildare tells Barbara McCarthy how he started his career as a projectionist in his local cinema, which was “a great way to start off in film”. He also says that he almost misses the Irish rain.
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