Cliff Taylor

Cliff Taylor

Cliff Taylor has worked in journalism since 1988, when he joined the Irish Times as a business and finance reporter. He subsequently worked for the paper in a range of roles, including economics editor and finance editor. In 2005 he moved to become editor of the Sunday Business Post. He rejoined the Irish Times in October 2014 as managing editor.

The property tax is only 1 per cent of tax revenue. The economic argument would be to let it drift up over the years and use the cash to cut income tax, or fund key projects. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien
Property tax risks dying of neglect

The balance of opinion in some councils is that there may be more votes in better services

The Independents, including John Halligan, claimed a great victory when Government agreed to a review of corporation tax. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
The tricky politics of Ireland’s corporation tax

The changing mood towards the State’s tax regime presents opportunities and dangers

Paschal Donohoe: looks set to reimpose the cap on tax write-downs companies can claim relating to intellectual property assets. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons
Ireland needs to stay ahead of the corporate tax reform game

Paschal Donohoe must resist calls from some of the Ireland Inc lobby to slow reform

The European Union flag flies outside the European Commission building in Brussels: in a landmark decision the commission found that Apple owed the Irish Government over €13bn plus interest for unpaid tax. Photograph: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg
Our diplomats facing a fight in Brussels and it’s not about Brexit

Looming new corporate tax proposals open up another battlefront for Ireland

John McNamee, dressed as a customs worker, joins other members of Border Communities Against Brexit in setting up an old customs post at Carrickcarnon, between Dundalk and Newry. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
EU may not protect Ireland when it comes to the Border

Europe and the UK are placing higher priority on other issues in the Brexit talks

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe indicated that the Government would press ahead with its plan to merge USC and PRSI
Donohoe to focus on 20% tax band rather than rates

Minister for Finance hints at budget provisions in speech to Kennedy Summer School

Protesters wearing European Union flag masks take part in an anti-Brexit demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA Wire
Clarity no closer on post-Brexit border for Irish economy

Central issue is how to control movement of goods entering Britain from other countries

While a big increase on tax on tobacco is a racing certainty for the budget, recent evidence suggests that high taxes may be affecting buying behaviour. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
Cliff Taylor: No easy targets for Budget tax hikes

PAYE tax credit change would put higher earners in the firing line

Traffic heading northbound on the M50. Photograph: Alan Betson
Cliff Taylor: How can we get Irish traffic out of this jam?

The upturn has brought traffic to a standstill. Big decisions are needed – fast

Slumping sterling: yesterday’s rate of more than 93p means the UK currency has fallen more than 10p against the euro since April. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty
Slumping sterling now a clear danger for Irish exporters

Cliff Taylor: Even if euro parity isn’t on the cards, the exchange rate is hurting business

Banks charge an average of 3.55 per cent for a mortgage in the Republic, compared with the 1.87 per cent average across the EU.
Cliff Taylor: High-cost Ireland set to continue punishing the young

Millennial squeeze driven by high costs of rent, mortgages and childcare

Brexit may damage Government attempts to keep voters on board. Photograph: Getty
Brexit will sour Paschal Donohoe’s ‘jam tomorrow’ tax cut plans

If Britain is heading for a hard Brexit, we will be seeing economic nerves by next year

This graphic shows the change in the number of properties listed as available to rent on housing website Daft over the last 11 years.
Rental crisis: lack of supply is the real problem, not price rises

Analysis: two-tier market is emerging with existing tenants slow to move due to fears of rent rises

Britain’s Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis and European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Photograph: Francois Lenoir/Reuters
Cliff Taylor: British Brexit plan is more Blackadder than Machiavelli

Britain will use Border as level to try to progress talks on post-Brexit trade deals

European Commission warned that if Britain leaves the customs union and the single market, as it has said it will, then the concept of a frictionless Border “is not possible.”
We are still in the dark on how the Brexit Border will work

Cliff Taylor: EU Commission is unlikely to sign up unless it is happy that the Border is reasonably sound

The key issue is how to control goods entering Britain from third countries and ensure the correct rules and tariffs are applied before they enter the EU. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty
Britain’s Brexit fudge will not fly with the rest of the EU

Cliff Taylor: Plan will not survive contact with enemy when negotiators get to Brussels

Cars driving through UK Border Control checkpoints at Calais ferry port in France. The risk is of Britain leaving the EU at the end of March 2019 with no agreement on what happens next. Were this to happen, customs checks would immediately be needed between Britain and the EU - including at the Irish border.
Britain gives the first hint of how it sees trade and customs working after Brexit

UK proposes transition period on leaving EU to allow for new trade deal to be agreed

The Irish Border is one of three issues on which progress is meant to be made before talks start on a new UK/EU trade deal. Photograph: Getty Images
Why should we propose solutions to a ‘hard’ Border we don’t want?

Cliff Taylor: we need to keeping telling the Conservatives and the DUP we await their Border proposals

A mock customs post set up in February by anti-Brexit campaigners at Ravensdale, Co Louth, to highlight concerns about the impact on trade. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire
Mission impossible: how do Irish companies prepare for Brexit?

Cliff Taylor: firms must factor in costs for a hard Brexit while hoping it never happens

Dole queues in Cork. Photograph: Daragh Mac Sweeney/Provision
Government warned against broad social welfare increases

Department of Social Protection indicates rise in all areas may not be possible

Water supplied to the community by the local council in Drogheda, Co Louth, following a pipe burst. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire
Cliff Taylor: Politicians must fix the leak in Irish Water’s funding

TDs need to take responsibility for the consequences of capitulating on water charges

Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, pictured in Dublin this week, is correct when he says that a year has been wasted in terms of looking for a Brexit border solution. Photograph: Gareth Chaney Collins
Bertie, chlorine-washed chicken and the Brexit border

Tensions over the Border after Brexit highlight key economic risks

Shoppers pn Grafton Streetin Dublin. The number of people at work is on track to soon return to pre-crisis levels. Photograph: iStock
Cliff Taylor: Tales of the unexpected as the economy surges

No Brexit hit yet, but Central Bank has cautious eye on future

The Central Bank is expecting a 3 per cent rise this year in the numbers at work Photograph: Alan Betson
Central Bank significantly raises forecasts for economy and jobs

Cliff Taylor: Bank still worried about ‘negative and material’ impact of Brexit

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan: a member of the ‘Big Six’ that released statement on proposed border adjustment tax. Photograph: Aaron P Bernstein/Reuters
Threat to exports lifted as US drops key corporate tax proposal

Plan would have posed long-term threat to foreign direct investment in Ireland

The falling value of the dollar is a negative for US tourists arriving in Ireland at peak season and also for Irish indigenous exporters to the US market.
Dollar falls as Trump’s economic agenda stalls

Falling dollar is good news for those heading to the US on holidays

Water charges cost: sending out the refund letters will cost €1m

The saga of the charges and conservation grant will cost the State around €120m

New figures by the CSO show the domestic economy is continuing to grow strongly as people are spending more. Photograph: Getty Images
Preparing for economic shocks is more important than a tax cut

Cliff Taylor: Stripping out big multinationals presents a different picture of the economy

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
Ireland’s lost economic decade still haunts budget policy

Cliff Taylor: Paschal Donohoe has options but faces effects of years of underinvestment

Computer generated image of Metro North. The Government is committed to increasing capital expenditure including roads, schools and transport infrastructure
Summer economic statement: Don’t expect major tax cuts

Scope in Budget 2018 for new spending and tax cuts will be slightly more than €300m

Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe. Photo: EPA
Donohoe to slash cash to rainy day fund by half

Move reflects ‘altered economic circumstances’ Minister for Finance says

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe arrives for a Eurogroup meeting in Brussels, Belgium. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet
Capital spending must not be hijacked by ‘new politics’

We desperately need new infrastructure, but we cannot allow special interests to dictate it

Minister for Communications Denis Naughten announcing the broadband plan last April. File photograph: Cyril Byrne
Rural broadband should be an absolute priority

Irish politicians cannot afford to delay delivery of decent connections any longer

Former minister for finance Michael Noonan in 2016 with Simon Harris and Dublin Fine Gael candidates Anne-Marie Dermody, Naoise Ó Muiri, Kate O Connell and Catherine Byrne, announcing plans to abolish the USC by 2020.
What’s the USC/PRSI merger all about?

Cliff Taylor: As ever, of course, voters will have one question: ‘What’s in it for me? ’

A mock customs post set up by anti-Brexit campaigners at Ravensdale, Co Louth, to highlight concerns about the impact on trade. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire
Cliff Taylor: Post-Brexit frictionless Border is a fantasy

North remaining in EU customs union is only way to solve riddle of having no hard Border

Philip Lane: he said one of the most attractive features Ireland could have for inward investment was a reputation for high-quality regulation
Central Bank governor defends position on Brexit investments

Philip Lane says regulator not responsible for promoting financial services sector

Eoghan Murphy, former minister of State at the Department of Finance, had accused other jurisdictions of regulatory arbitrage. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Government needs to focus on single shot at winning Brexit jobs

Central Bank’s independence should not be impinged in bid to win inward investment

Faced with the complexities of Brexit’s impact, firm business planning is impossible. Photograph: iStock
Brexit’s impact on investment will be dramatic, unpredictable

The phoney war is over and there will be big shifts into and out of Ireland, says Cliff Taylor

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. “The new Taoiseach needs to set Brexit preparation as the key economic priority.” Photograph: Aidan Crawley/Bloomberg
Cliff Taylor: Varadkar will find it hard to get stuff done

Political debate disappears down a rabbit hole each year as budget day approaches

A graph on a trader’s screen on the trading floor of ETX Capital in London shows the fall of pound sterling when the first UK election exit poll was released. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images
Three key questions UK general election poses for Irish economy

Value of sterling, nature of Brexit and implications for island of Ireland all critical

The UK election has changed the game, no matter what Theresa May says about it now being business as usual. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Cliff Taylor: Has Ireland just caught a break on Brexit?

UK’s election result may mean its EU exit will not be as hard and damaging as we feared

Market uncertainty: traders will take their direction from political developments that could take some time to unfold, but some volatile moves are possible. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters
What May’s failed gamble means for the Irish economy

Cliff Taylor: We are deep into the realm of unknown unknowns about Brexit

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan will leave the office with State’s economy in much better shape than when he took over. File photograph: Eric Luke/The Irish Times
Remarkable recovery will be Michael Noonan’s legacy

Minister for Finance’s success in navigating bailout sowed seeds of controversy to follow

The UK currency dropped in the immediate wake of the exit poll by 2 per cent against the US dollar and the euro and was trading around 1.5 per cent lower an hour later. File photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
Sterling down sharply after exit poll predicts Tories to fall short

UK currency drops in immediate wake of prediction by 2% against euro and US dollar

British Prime Minister Theresa May fell short of an overall majority
Sterling falls sharply following UK election result

Euro climbs to over 88p in a move which will worry Irish exporters to the UK

For public servants, the pay deal delivers average rises of 6.6 per cent by 2020, or just over 2 per cent a year.
Pay deal will use up about one-third of budgetary leeway

Deal will cost €180m next year and more in subsequent two years

Lloyds of London won’t be moving to Dublin, having chosen Brussels as its post-EU base.
Dublin lagging behind in race to secure Brexit investments

With QBE and Lloyds choosing Brussels, time is running out to lure big financial firms here

Lloyds building in London. Lloyds will set up its EU base in Brussels
Brexit: Ireland faces battle to win insurance business

Cliff Taylor: Move by QBE to choose Brussels shows tough competition for Dublin

AIB headquarters, Dublin: the bank group made profits of more than €1.6 billion last year, allowing the planned stockmarket float to go ahead. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien
Cliff Taylor: Its lose-lose for bank customers as AIB starts to exit State ownership

Flotation is underpinned by margins in excess of European norms and little competition

For the year to date income tax remains just over €200m behind target. Photograph: iStock
Cliff Taylor: Latest tax figures point to limited budget wriggle room

Income tax is still behind and it is a mystery given the strong employment growth

AIB headquarters in Ballsbridge: If the Government sells its stake too cheaply and shares rocket after the float, it will be criticised. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien
Cliff Taylor: AIB IPO must go ahead regardless of cash usage

State’s case to EU to loosen rules on infrastructure spending does not hinge on AIB

Former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Seán FitzPatrick leaving Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday, after he was acquitted on all charges of misleading auditors. Photograph: Collins Courts
Cliff Taylor: FitzPatrick omnishambles a defining moment for State

Jaw-dropping errors have shaken public’s faith in handling of banking crisis

The two Fine Gael leadership candidates are both promising to reduce the tax burden, but they both also want to increase spending. They won’t have much scope to pursue this agenda in the Budget because the numbers just won’t add up. Fle photograph: Getty Images
Coveney, Varadkar both want to cut tax, raise spending, but it doesn’t add up

FG contest: Due to EU fiscal rules and economic crisis there’s little room for error on Budget

Leo Varadkar: says he favours a less onerous ratio of national debt to GDP of 55%
Varadkar proposes easing target of reducing State debt

FG leadership contender says move needed to free more cash for capital investment

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is to get an annual pension of €126,000 and an up-front lump sum of €378,000 when he retires as a TD. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Our politicians win on the double when they get their pensions

Favourable tax treatment enhances generous terms for retiring politicians

Taoiseach Enda Kenny: entitled a pension of about €126,000 a year, plus a lump sum on retirement of €378,000, the Dáil was told. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Taoiseach’s pension package would cost €5m to buy - experts

Retiring politicians and public servants also benefit from favourable tax rules

Taoiseach Enda Kenny arrives at a European Union summit in Brussels in 2011 where leaders met to work out a deal to resolve the euro zone debt crisis and find a way to give the bloc’s bailout fund greater firepower. File photograph: Thierry Roge/Reuters
Cliff Taylor: Next taoiseach will have little leeway to curry voters’ favours

Post-bailout, pre-Brexit Ireland may be as good as it gets in terms of tax and spending

Michel Barnier, the European Commission’s chief negotiator on Brexit, with Taoiseach Enda Kenny at Government Buildings on Thursday. Photograph: Paul Faith/Reuters
We cannot rely on Brussels to fight our corner in Brexit talks

Ireland needs to be Brexit peacemaker to keep talks on track and prevent collapse

Brexit: The IMF has called on the Government to ensure it has room for budgetary manoeuvre. Photograph: Getty Images
Impact of Brexit on Ireland to be ‘negative and significant’

Significant resources must be set aside in readiness for impending risks, warns IMF

US president Donald Trump thinks Ireland has done a good job in getting through the crisis by not increasing taxes. Photograph: Reuters
Trump says Ireland didn’t raise taxes? Now that is fake news

President Trump’s comments may have related to Ireland’s policy on corporate tax

At lower pay levels, those in the public sector earn 15% more than their private sector counterparts. At higher pay levels, the cash amounts are almost exactly reversed, with those in the private sector doing better
Pensions the key to gap between public and private sectors

Difference between public and private sectors has closed due to cuts in public pay

A television screen displays news footage relating to the result of France’s presidential election, as traders works on the trading floor of ETX Capital in London on May 8th. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/AFP/Getty Images
French result reduces the level of EU uncertainty

However, in these turbulent times, political risk has not been removed from the financial markets

There is probably close to two new buyers for every one new house on average. The housing squeeze, in other words, is getting squeezier. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
It may not be a housing bubble, but the squeeze is getting worse

The lack of adequate houses at all levels is one of the biggest issues Ireland faces

Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker. If the talks collapse, it will be hard hat time. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
Danger for Ireland as Brexit talks get down and dirty

Irish business leaders will be watching nervously to see which way the talks go

A Border Communities Against Brexit protest at Government Buildings highlighted some of the issues facing the State. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Government will argue for special EU support to cope with Brexit shock

New strategy document also calls for help to manage period before new trade deal agreed

Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel and British prime minister Theresa May: There is a complete lack of clarity over whether Ms May’s government is willing to make the kind of concessions which would make a softer Brexit possible. Photograph: Matthew Mirabelli/AFP/Getty
Is Ireland really top of May and Merkel’s Brexit agenda?

Cliff Taylor: If we learned one thing from financial crisis, it is big guns always win

US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin ends a briefing at the White House after unveiling the Trump administration’s proposal to cut corporation tax from 35 per cent to 15 per cent. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters
Trump’s radical corporate tax plan could slow investment abroad

However silver lining suggests plan for border tax on imports now on back-burner

US national economic director Gary Cohn and treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin unveil the Trump administration’s tax reform proposal in the White House on Wednesday. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters
Trump corporate tax plan could hurt future US investment in Ireland

However, there is a silver lining as border tax looks like it’s on the back-burner

Pay and display: the boom-time rise in incomes was one reason we got in such trouble. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
Public servants want their ‘stolen’ money back. Time for a reality check

Pay restoration looks set to follow water charges and become the next political mess

“The Brexit talks are about damage limitation and the huge and lengthy challenges Theresa May faces may slowly be becoming clear in Downing Street”
Cliff Taylor: Mandate Theresa May seeks will have huge impact on us

Snap election in the UK could mean a softer Brexit which would benefit Ireland

At present the average cost of SME loans in Ireland is over 6.5%, more than twice the euro zone average
SME exporters hit by Brexit could get low-cost loans

If loan scheme is similarly priced to funding for farmers, interest could be about 3%

Cystic Fibrosis sufferer and campaigner Jillian McNulty with Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin outside the Dáil on Wednesday after the HSE reached a deal on the provision of Orkambi. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons
Governments will struggle to pay for high-tech drugs

Cliff Taylor: High-tech drugs budget now similar to routine spending on defence

A hardish Brexit could knock one percentage point off our growth rate for a few years. Photograph: Reuters
Cliff Taylor: In an uncertain world, economic forecasting is fraught with danger

Brexit is just one of the unknowns making growth predictions tricky

Michael Noonan also explained how the State could draw on European Investment Bank funds for key infrastructural projects. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons
Noonan may have extra cash for budget, but it ‘won’t be dramatic’

Minister tells Oireachtas committee any extra spending or tax cuts would be ‘modest’

The Department of Finance is expected to increase its growth forecasts – and this may mean some rise in the €1.2bn figure. Photograph: Aidan Crawley/Bloomberg
Cliff Taylor: Can we rely on a ‘Phoenix miracle’?

Irish economy’s growth should not blind us to reality in the upcoming budget process

Michael O’Leary: Warned that aircraft might not fly between the EU and UK for a time after spring 2019 exit. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Aviation sector will be at sharp end of Brexit battle

Caveat: Debate hinges on which airlines will be able to fly to and from which airports

The more prices accelerate ahead of incomes, the more difficult it will be for the average younger buyers to, in the words of the old cliché, get their first step on the housing ladder. (Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire)
Housing policy creating a vicious circle of demand and higher prices

The more prices accelerate ahead of incomes, the more difficult it is for the average younger buyer to get on the first rung of th(...)

Dublin Bus: the fleet was out of service on Friday due to secondary picketing during an unofficial strike by transport workers as part of the Bus Éireann strike. Photograph: Alan Betson
Cliff Taylor: Shutting down bus, rail services without notice is unconscionable

Travelling public takes hit in the war between trade unions and Government

The UK’s exit bill relates to commitments already made to EU spending programmes and other liabilities. Photograph: EPA
UK’s Brexit bill likely to be well under €60bn, says think tank

Influential Bruegel institute sees UK needing to pay at least €25.4bn

Will economic sanity lead to an orderly Brexit deal? Or will political tensions lead to a collapse in the talks?
Cliff Taylor: Between a rock and a hard Brexit

Theresa May’s comment that Brexit must not damage the Republic of Ireland rings a bit hollow

A European Union flag flies near Big Ben in London. Ireland’s interests stand particularly exposed in the Brexit negotiations. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
The British are bluffing: a bad Brexit deal is better than no deal

Failure to reach a deal would result in chaos and be dire for the UK and Ireland

NTMA chief executive Conor O’Kelly: “Nobody has a crystal ball on interest rates.”
Aggressive fundraising reduces borrowing State must refinance

NTMA actively lengthens maturity of Irish debt to EU-record average of 11 years

British prime minister Theresa May: will make statement to House of Commons on March 29th, the same day article 50 will be triggered. Photograph: Dimitris Legakis/EPA
Brexit: Three key things to watch as article 50 is triggered

Theresa May will pull the trigger on March 29th but real action won’t start until late May

President Michael D Higgins hit out at an European Commission White Paper saying it appears no one is addressing the underlying issues honestly. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
Cliff Taylor: EU struggles to find compelling vision as it hits 60

Instead of a grand plan, the union needs to take practical steps to address problems

Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen: Reaction to a 0.25 point interest rate increase in the US shows how a few sets of positive economic figures and some nudging from those in charge can change expectations – dramatically – in a matter of weeks. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters
Irish borrowers on knife edge as era of low rates winds down

Forecasts are uncertain but ‘normal’ growth appears to be returning in Europe and the US

The immediate reaction to the Fed bulletin was a fall in the US dollar. Photograph: Getty Images
US rates finally climbing, with real data fuelling ascent

Pressing fiscal question is when will the ECB be prepared to follow the Federal Reserve?

Michael Noonan has said his meetings with US fund Cerberus ’were not inappropriate in any way’. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
Michael Noonan and PAC set to clash over Project Eagle report

Minister says he was not given a chance to answer criticism of meetings with Cerberus

What deal will the EU and UK come to regarding the 800 million litres of milk the Republic annually imports from the North – and all the beef we export to Britain? Photograph: Kevin Miyazaki/The New York Times
Cliff Taylor: Brexit is about to get real – and it won’t be pretty

Irish Government addicted to positive spin and playing down the hard details

There are some indications that European Central Bank president Mario Draghi could preside over an increase in interest rates next year. Photograph: Getty Images
Decoding Draghi: So when will mortgage rates rise?

Cliff Taylor translates the ECB president’s comments on interest rates into plain English

UK chancellor of the exchequer Philip Hammond makes his maiden budget speech.
Five ways the British budget will affect Ireland

Projected growth looks good but Brexit impact and other variables could alter that

The amount of money water charges would have collected was not enormous in the overall context of the exchequer finances.
Cliff Taylor: Why we need to broaden the tax base

Relying on a small number of companies and individuals could prove dangerous

Eamon Ryan: “We have learned nothing from before the economic crash where a lack of independent questioning led to unsustainable budget decision-making.” Photograph: Eric Luke
Ryan accuses department of ‘Yes Minister’ tactics

Greens leader slates delay in setting up office to advise Oireachtas members on budget

Theresa May: The British prime minister is under pressure to “deliver” a clean break with the EU. Photograph: Philip Toscano/PA
Cliff Taylor: The €60bn bill that threatens the Brexit talks

A big divorce row over the UK bill could poison or even derail Brexit negotiations

Michael Noonan: ‘There is a good case to reduce personal taxation rates further.’
Michael Noonan favours further income tax cuts

Minister says sustained economic growth could allow for tax reductions in next budget

Champagne disappeared from the CPI in 2012 – but it’s back in now. Photograph: Getty Images
Champagne is in, CDs are out: how the CSO basket reflects changing Ireland

Statistics body once counted pressure cookers and kippers - but no more

The European Commission report is critical of some of the key Government interventions in the housing market
Help-to-buy scheme could push up house prices, warns EU

European Commission says increased reliance on corporation tax also a concern

We have regained around two-thirds of the job losses which were sustained during the economic crash
Brexit nerves fail to dampen job-creation momentum

Davy stockbrokers says unemployment rate could fall towards 6% this year

Enda Kenny at a jobs announcement by Microsoft on Friday. Unless he can stage an unlikely comeback he needs to depart the stage quickly. Photograph: Alan Betson
Cliff Taylor: If Enda Kenny is going he should go now

With the country facing big decisions there is no time for a ‘long goodbye’

‘It is one thing for Trump to call on US companies to invest at home, but it is much more significant if he gives them a real financial incentives to do so.’
Cliff Taylor: Trump’s tax package is bad news for Ireland

US president plans to increase taxes on those importing to sell into the American market

The split of Hewlett Packard led to the creation of HP Inc, which took on the consumer business and also Hewlett Packard Enterprises, which serves business customers in areas such as enterprise hardware and cloud computing. Photograph: Jim Young/Reuters
HP Inc job losses come amid pressure in PC and printer markets

Close attention will be paid to whether Trump’s policies have affected move

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