A round-up of some of today's business stories in brief

Numbers in construction down by 18%

The number of people working in construction has fallen by almost a fifth over the 12 months to August, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The CSO said the collapse in the sector had worsened during the summer, with the result that employment in the sector had fallen 17.9 per cent by the end of August. During the 12 months to July, employment in the sector was down 16 per cent.

Orapa diamond mine dispute ends

African Diamonds and its partner De Beers have agreed terms for a mining licence to develop the AK6 prospect in Orapa. Disputes between the three parties have delayed the licence for the past few months. The licence allows Boteti, the African Diamonds/ De Beers joint venture, to develop the mine over the next 15 years.

AIB no longer offering tracker

Ireland's largest retail bank AIB has announced that it will longer offer tracker products to new mortgage applicants.

AIB follows the lead of Bank of Ireland and its subsidiary ICS Building Society, which announced earlier this week that it was pulling out of the tracker market. Tracker mortgages have been a popular option for mortgage applicants in recent years as they tie the interest rate charged to the European Central Bank rate.

Trackers have come under pressure as banks are forced to pay well over the ECB rate for funds in the wholesale money markets. Existing AIB customers with tracker mortgages are not affected.