Irish publicly-quoted companies are on track to spend as much as €6.14 billion buying back their own shares this year, marking a record level of activity, according to Irish Times calculations. Joe Brennan runs through the numbers.
Apple launched the latest updates of its iPhone range, which will include new AI features, while its Watch has been redesigned and will have the ability to detect sleep apnea. Ciara O’Brien was at the launch in California and reports on the latest iterations of Apple’s top tech gadgets.
There has been lots of talk of late about inheritance tax and the possibility of thresholds being increased in the upcoming budget. But how many people actually pay the tax here? Fiona Reddan examines Revenue’s latest data to answer this and other questions about the tax in our Your Money feature. If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money, the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.
In our Your Money Q&A, a reader asks if there any tax relief available to help cover the cost of caring for their elderly mother. Dominic Coyle offers a view.
Auto-enrolment will substantially improve the retirement income of workers, according to an assessment by benefits consultants Willis Towers Watson. It shows that a 23-year-old on national average earnings could expect income from auto-enrolment of €15,200 a year from the age of 66. Dominic Coyle examines the figures.
Sticking with pensions, Joe Brennan reports on how the Irish Association of Pension Funds has called on the Government to either concede that it will not be in a position to start auto-enrolment next year or to confirm “with absolute certainty” a date for when it will commence.
Investors might view the Grenfell scandal as old news, but Kingspan’s statement last week following the publication of a report on the disaster – presumably guided by the possibility of future legal action – struck a discordant note given the gravity of the tragic event, writes Stocktake.
The Corrib gasfield off the west coast of Ireland could be repurposed for wind and hydrogen, an assessment for its operators suggests. Colin Gleeson reports.
Mario Draghi’s report sets out the economic ills of the EU but will its member states take his suggested medicine? Cantillon offers a view.
Former Bristol mayor Marvin Rees was in Dublin recently and sat down with Mark Hennessy to discuss the challenges of his time in office, the reasons behind its axing in a referendum, and the lessons that might be learned by Limerick mayor John Moran, the first directly elected mayor in this country.
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