Business News

Shoppers increased their spending in December, but it was mainly driven by a rise in online sales. Expenditure in shops was flat last year compared with 2016. Spending in shops grew in the final months of last year, but for 2017 as a whole it was unchanged, according to Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index, which […]

The impressive retail figures in Ireland should not be a surprise. Ireland is the fastest-growing economy in Europe. With employment levels rising rapidly, net migration boosting population levels and salaries comfortably above the rate of inflation, Ireland’s consumer spending environment should be buoyant. However, the retail sector is undergoing profound change as consumer behaviours and […]

A complete overhaul of property tax has moved significantly closer after a dramatic intervention by the Minister for Housing, who says bills should no longer be solely based on the value of homes and the annual charge needs reform. Minister Eoghan Murphy said the current property tax system is unfair on homeowners and needs to […]

Northern Ireland exports around £20m (€22.6m) of fish products to the Republic annually, the UK exports around twice as much freight to Ireland than it imports, and Ireland is the fourth most visited country by UK travellers. These are just some of the detail contained in the UK government’s sectoral analyses prepared in advance of […]

Undeterred by objections to a proposed data centre campus in Dublin, Amazon is looking to build yet another data centre in the capital. The planned 88,500 sq ft data centre – which could cost as much as €45m – will neighbour another Amazon data centre on a site in Tallaght, in the south of the […]

Irish SMEs are writing off €1.7bn every year due to bad debts, according to a new report. Bibby Financial Services said the firms are losing the money due to customers not paying bills, or customers becoming insolvent. The Global Business Monitor report from the firm found that an average of €13,780 is written off every […]

Heather Humphreys has said she won’t rush into a decision to relax the work-permits regime to let in low-skilled workers from outside Europe. The Business, Enterprise and Innovation Minister said that while her department is carrying out a review of the employment permits system as the economy booms and unemployment falls, she does not want […]

Irish households have never been better off and now have a combined €4bn more of savings than they owe in debts. The total amount of loans owned by households has fallen by €60bn since the start of the crash, thanks to debt repayments, write-offs and to the slowdown in the new mortgage market, according to […]

A PRESSURE group is set to launch in the coming week to fight for changes to ensure lower insurance costs for businesses. The Alliance for Insurance Reform is set to be revived a decade-and-a-half after it was successful in bringing about huge changes. The venture is again being spearheaded by Supermac’s owner Pat McDonagh, amid […]

A leading Irish supermarket has confirmed it will pay all staff the so-called ‘living-wage’ of €11.70 an hour. German supermarket retailer Aldi has the new minimum rate of pay for its Irish staff. The rate of pay matches the living wage rate recommended by the Living Wage Technical Group, and makes Aldi the first supermarket […]