Dividends at Cartamundi, outdated copyright laws and tech job cuts

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The Belgian owners of game-maker Cartamundi received almost €31 million in dividends from Ireland in the years before closing its Waterford factory with the loss of 234 jobs, corporate records reveal. Generations of children and adults have played board games such as Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Connect 4 and Cluedo in the decades since the former MB Games set up in Waterford in 1977. Arthur Beesley and Ian Curran report.

In her weekly column Karlin Lillington argues that mainstream corporate conglomerates across film, music, publishing and art which benefit from outdated copyright laws and push for “fair use” restrictions are not going to be the ones supporting digital public access, for “the public want and the public good”.

An intelligent and strategic action to “join up thinking” of industrial policy across the public sector would clearly be opportune, to both develop new technologies and more importantly to prove their benefits in the market, writes columnist Chris Horn.

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Irish-founded platform Yonder has signed a deal with Irish Life to help companies and their Irish-based employees to easily access health insurance and retirement benefits, writes Ciara O’Brien. The company, which is aiming to simplify health and pension benefits for global businesses and employees through the use of a 100 per cent digital platform and app, will offer Irish Life products exclusively to its clients, giving the insurance company a way to access small and growing companies.

If you have ever been involved in a car crash, you may already appreciate the value of a dashcam. The small device that sits in the windscreen and records everything in front of it could be the difference between an insurance hike and an insurance claim, should the worst happen. Ciara O’Brien reviews the Miofive Dash Cam Dual.

Emissions from agriculture come from two primary sources: livestock, and stored manure and slurry. Both are major contributors to global greenhouse gases. Reducing the livestock population is one way of curbing the problem, but this is not a realistic option given the potential commercial impact and the ongoing need to increase global food production. What is needed is a breakthrough product that works within existing parameters to reduce emissions and that’s exactly what Galway-based start-up GlasPort Bio has developed: a feed supplement for livestock and an additive for stored slurry both of which stop the methane problem in its tracks, writes Olive Keogh.

There’s obviously a lag between lower energy prices and lower inflation that has yet to play out, says resident sage Cantillon. Sceptics think the second round effects of higher energy prices will prove more stubborn to shift, policymakers are more optimistic.

With Amazon announcing a further nine thousand jobs job cuts this week, and Workhuman’s plans to reduce its global workforce by 10%, it could be many weeks or even months before we learn how many Irish roles will be affected. On our Inside Business podcast presented by Laura Slattery, Business and technology journalist Ciara O’Brien analyses the latest retrenchment in the tech sector. She also examines the innovation that may arise in the indigenous market as a result, and the potential bounce for smaller tech companies and start-ups. Business reporter, Ian Curran, outlines the potential risk of contagion following the bailout of Credit Suisse and the collapse of Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the US. Markets have reacted well to the Swiss deal but the wiping out of AT1 bonds, a key source of funding for Irish banks, could have implications here.

By some calculations the State could reap almost €1 billion from the energy crisis before we factor in charges like VAT and excise, writes Cantillon. On Wednesday State-owned ESB announced that it would pay a €327 million dividend to the Exchequer this year, more than twice the €126 million handed over in 2022.