News

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the rate of unemployment fell to 5.6% in February, from the revised rate of 5.7% in January. Unemployment had stood at 5.8% in February 2018. The CSO said the seasonally adjusted number of people who were unemployed stood at 135,100 in February, down from 136,800 in […]

The European Central Bank (ECB) will hold an interest rate-setting meeting on Thursday when it will likely seek to reassure financial markets while not adding to panic setting in around Europe’s sluggish economic performance. Germany, France and Italy are now all flatlining economically, creating concerns that the eurozone economy may be headed for recession and […]

A new law to protect workers in casual and precarious employment comes into effect today, aimed at improving the security and predictability of working hours. A “band of hours” system is being introduced where an employee’s contract does not reflect actual hours worked. Under the legislation, a worker is now entitled to be placed on […]

Exchequer returns for February show a shortfall in Income Tax and VAT receipts, but these are largely offset by a bigger than expected payments of Corporation Tax. In February, €1.6 billion in income tax was collected, which was €156 million lower than expected. The Department of Finance says this is mainly due to some late […]

The clearest evidence yet has emerged of stockpiling by Irish businesses ahead of Brexit in the latest evidence of how the UK’s planned exit from the EU is hitting Irish industry. With 27 days to go before Brexit, Irish manufacturers have increased stocks of raw material at a record pace, according to the latest Manufacturing […]

Interest in rock band Queen has enjoyed a renaissance recent months. People above a certain age are talking about them again and humming their iconic songs. The newly-released Bohemian Rhapsody movie has put the band back on our radar in a big way. I must confess, I had forgotten about many of its greatest hits […]

Question: I am thinking of opening up a room in my home to a student as digs. Is there any tax relief available for this, and I am wondering whether or not renting a room will have any impact on my mortgage interest relief? Answer: Given the housing situation at the moment choosing to take […]

There’s a “high risk” that insurance cost and claims reform will wither on the political agenda, according to FBD chief executive Fiona Muldoon. She has blasted the snail’s pace of planned reforms but conceded that the strong set of full-year results posted by her stock market-listed insurance group yesterday does little to advance its cause […]

The number of data breaches reported to the Data Protection Commission soared by 70% last year, as new data protection rules were introduced across Europe. In total, the watchdog was notified of 4,740 breaches during 2018, with 3,542 of those lodged in the seven months after the General Data Protection Regulation came into force in […]

European Union governments and lawmakers have reached agreement on tighter rules for asset managers and investment firms offering “bank-like” services, such as proprietary trading and underwriting of financial instruments. The agreement will give the European Commission more power in overseeing foreign financial firms operating in the EU, including more clout over London-based financial firms after […]