Railing against tax, IPO payday and global ambitions for a Carlow firm

Ireland remains a top destination for rail companies across Europe to set up financial operations for tax planning despite the recent move by the Dutch national railway to stop using Dublin companies to avoid tax at home after a domestic row over the ethics of a state company depriving the state of income, writes Mark Paul.

For his part, Alan Walsh will be looking towards Toronto as the slimmed down plastics group he led, One51, now called IPL Plastics, prepares for a stock market flotation there. Joe Brennan reports that Walsh could bag a remuneration package of three million Canadian dollars upon a successful IPO.

Good news also for Netwatch's David Walsh and Niall Kelly. The video monitor security business they established in Carlow town 15 years ago is eyeing the global market after a deal funded by private equity group Riverside that merges the business with three others in the US and Britain. Peter Hamilton has the details.

And San Leon Energy, the oil and gas explorer led by former stockbroker and telecoms entrepreneur Oisín Fanning, is happily back open for trading after walking away from a possible linkup with a business partner in Africa, writes Joe Brennan. The company's shares jumped 50 per cent initially on their return to trading in London yesterday for the first time since November.

IPL Plastics chief entitled to up to €1.9m package after IPO

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Rising US Treasury yields affect shares as Europe edges ahead

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Office space take up falls 25% in Dublin in first quarter

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Ulster Bank raises €1bn as new chief executive lined up

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But the good news is not confined to foreign fields. In what is surely a bellwether for the state of the Irish economy, professional services firm PwC has reported a 10 per cent jump in revenues to €446 million for 2017. Fiona Reddan has the details.

In personal finance, Fiona Reddan advises families how to limit the tax bill on any inheritance they intend to leave behind while Proinsias O'Mahony asks whether investors are right to be spooked by the recent correction in increasingly volatilemarkets. And I will look at the sad case of a man who is facing a capital gains tax bill because his home burned down.