The tracker mortgage scandal has now cost Irish banks more than €1 billion in refunds, compensation and fines, after AIB and its EBS unit were landed with a record regulatory penalty on Thursday for their role in the overcharging affair. It comes as Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe prepares to bring proposals to Cabinet next week for a long-planned law aimed at making it easier in future to hold senior bankers to account for failings under their watch. Joe Brennan and Cormac McQuinn report.
Meanwhile, bankers continue to lobby hard for the removal of caps on salary and bonuses. In Caveat, Mark Paul writes that it remains in the public interest for the State to keep a grip on institutions that, in light of the Central Bank report, continue to show signs of rot.
Asking prices for the average home in the Republic rose almost 11 per cent to €320,000 in the 12 months to June, says a new report from MyHome.ie. However, that figure is down on the last report three months ago and, Barry O’Halloran writes, cost of living fears are expected to slow rocketing demand for houses further in the second six months of this year.
Technology company Expleo Ireland is to create 200 jobs in the next two years as part of a €10 million investment that will see its total team in Ireland grow to 1,000, writes Ciara O’Brien. Headquartered in France, the company €1.1 billion in revenue and employs 15,000 people in 30 countries
The Government should consider cutting taxes for individual private landlords in Budget 2023 to stop their “exodus” from the rental market, a major accountancy body has said. Personal taxation reform is their other demand, writes Ian Curran, so that the State continues to attract top talent from abroad.
Companies need to be much more proactive in helping customers become eco-friendly, a new survey has found. But they need to be aware at the same time that consumers are cynical about “greenwashing”, a survey by Accenture found. Ciara O’Brien reports.
A leading aviation industry chief argues that European airports had little to time to prepare for governments’ lifting of Covid curbs or the surge in travel that followed. He also took issue with Irish regulators’ demand for low airport charges while expecting the facilities to invest. Barry O’Halloran has the details.
Revolut is rolling out a new ‘buy now, pay later’ product from Friday which will allow its customers to spread the cost of purchases over a number of instalments but only a handful of its Irish customers will benefit initially. Ian Curran reports.
With inflation on the rise even as economies struggle and the European Central Bank weighing interest rate increases, John FitzGerald argues that they should learn the lessons of the 1970s and steer a line between the approach back then of English and German central bankers.
An Post lost more than €38 million last year after tax and depreciation, with Brexit and the pandemic blamed for adding to the State postal company’s cost base. Ian Curran writes that it comes after an €18 million loss in 2020, but the company says it expects to return to growth and profit in the second half of this year.
As it confronts an unprecedented energy challenge, Kevin O’Sullivan writes that Europe must transition to a renewables-dependent energy system with a supergrid incorporating offshore wind as a central element, according to a new analysis.
Dubliner Gary Mullan was already running a growing business, digital recruitment firm Prosperity, but that didn’t stop him deciding in his fifties to relocate to Barcelona as he expanded into new markets. Barbara McCarthy spokes to him.
In World of Work, Sarah O’Connor reports that the servant economy we have got used to over recent years — with gig workers brining our every request to our front door — may be coming to an end as tighter regulation and inflation lead to a reassessment of the model.
And Caroline Jenkinson, who served for over 20 years as deputy chairman of the Labour Court, looks back on the changes in workplace dispute over that time.
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