Home building slows, hybrid jobs on the rise and the Central Bank’s mortgage problem

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Home building slowed in May, according to two reports. Photograph: Alan Betson / The Irish Times
Home building slowed in May, according to two reports. Photograph: Alan Betson / The Irish Times

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Home-building slowed in May, two reports show, as developers warned that inflation prompted a “massive slowdown” in apartment construction. Barry O’Halloran reports that the latest BNP Paribas Real Estate Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) as well as a report from the Chartered Institute of Builders (CIOB) shows construction dropping off, with the CIOB warning that inflation has been rising so rapidly during the lead-in times to projects that some are no longer viable by the time work is due to start.

Hybrid working has been incredibly popular since the pandemic and is becoming ever more the case. A survey by LinkedIn shows Ireland has the second highest level of job postings on the site offering the ability to do the job from outside the workplace.

The Central Bank is required to maintain financial stability and protect customers. But what happens when those two imperatives contradict each other, as is the case today on mortgages? Eoin Burke-Kennedy breaks down the issue.

Services drove a fourth successive month of business growth in Northern Ireland in May, a new report shows. Barry has the details.

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Barry also reports that State-owned energy company ESB and the Ireland Fund have become the latest organisations to back Innovate for Ireland, the scholarship programme aiming to lure talent to this country.

Irish cloud-based financial provider Envisage is targeting new growth over the next three years, investing €1 million in its business and adding 12 new jobs. Ciara O’Brien has the details.

As NCT delays continue, a timely story from Gordon Deegan: the directors of the firm operating the National Car Test contract “strongly refute” proposed noncompliance penalties by the Road Safety Authority on the firm.

In her column, Pilita Clark looks at the dying art of communication, and why Big Tech advances are undermining one of the most important skills people need to further their careers.

Sick people depend on rural pharmacies to supply drugs to ease their conditions, yet payments from the State are shrinking amid inflation. Derek Reilly, interim secretary general of the Irish Pharmacy Union, the policy and representative body of Irish pharmacists, makes the case for an increase.

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