Big companies pay less for electricity, Ryanair and school buses, and paying into a pension as markets wobble

Some multinational companies have been paying energy suppliers far less than Irish homes and SMEs for electricity in recent times, it has emerged. Barry O’Halloran has the details.

Ryanair has described as “deeply troubling” how EU funding to tackle emissions is being used to shore up unprofitable school bus routes and with no transparency over how the rest of the money is being spent. The Department of the Environment has rejected the claim. Ken Foxe teases through the argument.

In our first personal finance Q&A of the week, a reader wonders if they should stop making payments into their personal pension fund due to recent stock market declines. Dominic Coyle offers some guidance.

Northern Ireland’s constitutional position within the UK has changed with Brexit and the trade border in the Irish Sea, regardless of a ruling last week by the British Supreme Court, argues Eoin Burke-Kennedy in his weekly column.

Quiet quitting: You always had workers who did 9-5 but it’s a creeping malaise, employers say

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Scope for budget tax cuts and cash for households is limited - this will be a difficult pre-election package to agree on

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We are at last creating AI approaching human intellect but the underpinnings are insubstantial

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Interesting new faces on FD Technologies share register

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In our Opinion piece, John McCartney, director of research at BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland, outlines why he expects the vacancy rate in the Dublin office market to peak at 15 per cent this year and to drop in 2024.

Irish shoppers splashed out on trips abroad, clothing and takeaways last month, defying the cost-of-living squeeze, new data from fintech Revolut has indicated, writes Ian Curran.

Goldman Sachs chief David Solomon told a private gathering of top executives that he had erred by not cutting jobs earlier in 2022. Joshua Franklin and Kaye Wiggins of the Financial Times have the story.

Construction activity slowed for the fourth month running in January as contractors struggled to secure new orders, according to figures from the latest construction purchasing managers index from BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland. Barry O’Halloran goes through the data.

The Department of the Environment is still finalising the details of a low-cost loan scheme for home retrofitting that was originally slated to come on stream last year. Ian Curran has the details.

Venture capital investment fell sharply in the fourth quarter in Ireland as overseas investors fled the market, new data from the Irish Venture Capital Association shows. Ciara O’Brien reports.

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