The Government has been warned to scale back spending or risk overheating the economy.
In its latest quarterly bulletin, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) said the Government’s fiscal stance, including the proposed €9.4 billion budget for next year, was adding to demand pressures at the wrong time in the economic cycle.
This could be damaging in the long-term “if capacity constraints or cost inflation” prevent the full delivery of the National Development Plan (NDP), it said. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.
Eoin also tells us that the Government’s housing targets will not be met this year or next, the Economic Social and Research Institute (ESRI) has warned.
READ MORE
The think tank predicted house completions would rise to 35,000 this year after a better-than-expected outturn in the second quarter.
Moves by the Trump administration to force pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices in the United States would dramatically lower Irish corporation tax receipts, new research has warned.
However, the impact would not feed through to the exchequer until at least 2027, as corporation tax is paid a year in arrears. Dominic Coyle reports
The NFL comes to Dublin: How it became the richest sports league in the world
C&C Group, the drinks company behind Bulmers and Tennent’s, faces limited sales growth over the medium term if it does not carry out mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to boost its stable of brands, according to analysts in a new report from RBC Capital Markets.
A “leading premium or craft” drinks brand deal, priced in the order of £200 million, would make more sense than targeting a key brand in the UK, RBC analyst Tania Maciver suggested in the report. A transaction of that size would equate to almost 40 per cent of C&C’s current market value. Joe Brennan reports.
The loss of 520 units in the retail and wholesale sector was the main driver as the rate of empty commercial properties across the State climbed to a record high of 14.6 per cent in the second quarter, new data shows.
A total of 30,800 commercial units were classified as vacant in buildings data group GeoDirectory’s latest commercial vacancy rates report. The analysis, prepared by EY, found the rate increased in 17 out of 26 counties compared with a year earlier. Colin Gleeson reports.
Countries are increasingly looking to retain control over sensitive data rather than leave it in the hands of private operators driven by profit. So should Ireland have its own sovereign AI? Ciara O’Brien reports.
Resident sage Cantillon notes that Bank of Ireland’s technology has been listed by Autonomous, the international financial sector research firm (owned by AllianceBernstein), as up there with the best in Europe. Cantillon also notes that efforts by Spanish lender BBVA to create Europe’s third-biggest lender appear to be coming to a head. And finally, our sage sees Aer Lingus blotting its copybook in the key US market.
The cyber security incident in Dublin Airport at the weekend was for air travel passengers, but the world we live and work in today is heavily reliant on invisible companies. That’s not a bad thing. An awful lot of the work these companies do is incredibly boring, despite being vital to basic day-to-day activities.
Improving oversight on important boring work is the only way to reduce such incidents in the future, argues Emmet Ryan in his column.
While motorists are becoming more used to the idea that electric vehicles are here to stay, there is still an element of consumer unease about buying one. The range anxiety issue has largely been addressed. What hasn’t is battery life and exactly how this piece of the puzzle works, especially when it comes to trading in and valuing a vehicle for the used car market.
Olan O’Sullivan cofounded BatteryCycle with Professor Fabiano Pallonetto last year to plug this battery evidence gap. Olive Keogh spoke to him.
Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 brings all the things you liked about the original buds and a few you may never have used – active noise cancelling, spatial awareness, conversational awareness to dip your audio – with some new technology wrapped inside, writes Ciara O’Brien in her review.
Green energy business Galetech Group has bought 50 per cent of wind turbine repair specialist, Blade Technical Services (BTS), the company confirmed on Tuesday.
Co Cavan-based Galetech employs 130 people in providing technical advice, project management, maintenance and other services to wind, solar and energy storage firms. Barry O’Halloran reports
If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your finances, try signing up to On the Money, the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.
