IFAC pensions warning, hoteliers defend prices and Gordon Moore’s legacy

The pension time bomb keeps ticking. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council warns Immediate action is required if the State is to mitigate the cost of keeping the State pension age at 66. Dominic Coyle reports.

Ciara O’Brien sizes up the various issues facing children online, and assesses if Google is doing its part to keep children safe on the web.

Despite the retention of the 9 per cent VAT rate earlier this year, hotels plan to increase room charges despite winning a VAT concession from Government, politicians claimed on Wednesday. Barry O’Halloran was at the Oireachtas committee hearing.

In her column, Karlin Lillington pays tribute to Intel co-founder Gordon Moore and questions if we would be better off if today’s tech rock stars lived in the relative anonymity Moore worked in.

Family affairs: How Ireland’s newly rich are putting money to work in secretive firms

---

Irish team develops therapy for deadly sepsis crisis

---

Third terminal at Dublin Airport ‘will be built’

---

Keeping children safe in the online world of social media platforms

---

House prices may be showing signs of cooling, but Cantillon looks at where they may go next, while also asking if the Government will pay heed to IFAC’s warning on pensions.

While the immediate banking crisis may have abated a little, Moody’s said on Wednesday the outlook for Irish banks is “positive” as the domestic economy and lenders’ capital cushions remain strong, even as investors remain wary of the sector globally after the recent implosions on both sides of the Atlantic. Joe Brennan reports.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney and the interim head of the IDA, Mary Buckley, have warned that Ireland “cannot take foreign direct investment for granted” as “threats” and economic “uncertainty” remain amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, inflation and disruption to supply chains. David Raleigh reports.

More than 1.2 million people arrived in Irish airports and ferry ports in February, an increase of 1.1 per cent from pre-Covid February 2020, as the post-pandemic recovery in international travel continued apace. Ian Curran has the details.

A unit of UK property giant Grosvenor has joined forces with Irish property investor and operator Fine Grain Property as part of its latest plan for expansion. Ronald Quinlan has the details.

The backers of a €10 million plan to transform Howth Castle in Co Dublin into a retail, food and tourist destination are seeking the reversal of a decision to disallow the most contentious part of the project. Gordon Deegan has the story.

Gordon also reports that the Irish black market in tobacco represents “a huge challenge” to the business of cigarette seller, PJ Carroll & Co, according to the company’s annual accounts.

Gordon has also seen accounts that show the co-producer of the multi Oscar-nominated Banshees of Inisherin received €72.5 million in Revenue movie and TV corporation tax credits last year.

In a significant ruling by the Court of Appeal, Ellen O’Riordan reports, the High Court erred in concluding that the public interest in cheaper drugs can override the rights of a patent holder before a claim of patent invalidity has been determined.

Dogpatch has launched a new sustainability programme that aims to position Ireland as a global leader in innovation in the field in the coming years. Ciara reports.

The Irish accounting watchdog has fined a Co Kildare-based accountant €10,500 and banned him from signing off on statutory audit reports for 12 months for regulatory breaches in relation to the quality controls of the audit of an Irish special purpose funding vehicle in 2019. Joe has the story.

Joe also reports on Irish Continental Group chief executive Eamonn Rothwell’s pay package, which jumped almost 250 per cent to €2.9 million last year as the parent of Irish Ferries returned to profit after the pandemic and expanded its fledgling Dover-Calais route in the wake of Brexit.

In Innovation, we assess the gap left for funding start ups by Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, while Olive Keogh reports on a start up targeting the pet food supplements market.

Stay up to date with all our business news: sign up to our Business Today daily email news digest.