A round-up of today's other news stories in brief.
Factory goods inflation rises slightly
Inflation for goods leaving the factory was strongly positive in October for the first time in 15 months.
The latest Wholesale Price Index of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that wholesale prices rose by 0.3 per cent in October month-on-month.
Although this monthly increase is more moderate than the 0.9 per cent increase recorded in September, the annual rate of wholesale goods inflation has been negligible since June last year.
Decline in oil output bodes ill
The decline in oil production may pose a threat to the global economy, according to a leading exploration geologist.
Production of oil will likely peak in 2010, on the dawn of the second half of the "Oil Age", said Colin Campbell, the chairman of the Association for Study of Peak Oil.
Oil production will fall at a rate of between 2 and 3 per cent a year, Mr Campbell predicted.
Businesses back tax incentives
Almost all owners of Irish businesses believe that the economy and private firms benefit from tax incentives, a survey has shown.
About 95 per cent of those polled for the Private Irish Business Survey said tax incentives were positive for the economy.
Indeed, 48 per cent of the larger companies surveyed would welcome reductions in income and indirect taxes as well as PRSI.
Law to simplify NI company setups
Businesses in Northern Ireland will benefit from reduced red tape as the UK prepares to introduce laws making it easier to set up and run companies.
The Company Law Reform Bill will create a UK company entity to replace the existing entities, creating a UK-wide footing for company law.
The bill will set out simpler rules for forming a business, and will include measures to improve the quality of audits.
Interest rates rise to slow building
An increase in interest rates by the European Central Bank would restrain rather than ruin the Irish building industry, according to Austin Hughes, the chief economist at IIB Bank.
While higher borrowing costs could reduce the purchasing power of homeowners, money injected into the economy when the SSIAs mature, and immigration, will continue to boost demand, Mr Hughes said.
New car licences up 8% on last year
Some 6,290 new cars were licenced in October, an 8 per cent increase on the 5,823 in the same month last year.
New figures from the CSO said that in the first 10 months of 2005 there were 160,460 new private cars licenced, up 12 per cent.
The first licencing of second-hand private cars increased by 56 per cent to 1,226 and increased by 86 per cent to 14,489 in the year to date.
The most popular models licenced in October were Toyota, Volkswagen, Ford, Opel, and Nissan.
Murdoch predicts end of newspapers
Rupert Murdoch has added to the gloom surrounding the US newspaper industry, saying that the business model of most titles is under threat as classified advertising moves online and circulations fall.
The News Corporation chairman, who once called classified revenues "rivers of gold", said: "Sometimes rivers dry up."
His comments came as Knight Ridder, a large US newspaper group, yielded to shareholder pressure to explore "strategic alternatives", including a possible sale, in response to competition from the internet. - (Financial Times service)
