PLANET BUSINESS

Barry O'Hallorantakes a sideways glance at business this week

THE NUMBERS

60,000

The number of extra people who a gloomier-than-usual Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) says will join the dole queues by 2009.

580

The number of Irish jobs Hibernian plans to transfer to Bangalore, India, over the next three years as the insurer does its bit to help the ESRI's predictions come true.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"It was just a mistake, we are turning over so much money."

Restaurateur and TV business mentor Jay Bourke on why his company, Sherland Entertainments, had to pay the taxman €158,815 for underdeclaring VAT. He wants the State to erect a statue of him for all the taxes he's collected on its behalf. Would he prefer marble or bronze?

GOOD WEEK

Doctors Chris Horn and Seán Baker

The founders of software group Iona Technologies, who will net $10.2 million (€6.48 million) and $5.1 million respectively from the sale of the business to US player Progress Software for $162 million. Although you could argue that they've missed the boat: at the height of the dotcom bubble in 2000, Iona was valued at $1.75 billion, more than 10 times the price it was sold for this week.

Barclays Bank

A £4.5 billion (€5.68 billion) cash injection is designed to raise Britain's fourth-largest bank out of the credit-squeeze doldrums. Barclays revealed this week that it will issue 1.58 million shares to Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and sovereign wealth funds in Singapore, China and Qatar to raise money. Chief executive John Varley says Barclays could use some of the cash for acquisitions. Presumably he'll have the sense not to buy any banks.

BAD WEEK

Irish "millionaires"

Up there with the giant panda on the list of endangered species after Merrill Lynch's World Wealth Report revealed this week that the number of Irish people with investable assets of more than $1 million fell by 1,000 last year as the economy began heading south. Rumour has it that the World Wildlife Fund is going to call for a hunting ban.

Oil speculators

Regulators and the US Senate are trying to squeeze speculators, ie refiners, airlines and other big consumers, out of oil futures markets after a string of witnesses at a US House of Representatives subcommittee hearing all blamed speculators for rocketing crude prices and $4-a-gallon petrol. Apparently supply, demand and the weak dollar have had nothing at all to do with it.