Level Health, the Irish health insurer that launched a year ago, has submitted a detailed complaint to the European Commission in Brussels about the operation of the State’s decades-old subsidy scheme for older and higher risk citizens with health coverage.
The so-called risk equalisation scheme, introduced in Ireland in 2003, benefits State-owned VHI the most. Joe Brennan has the details.
There are almost 41,000 dormant or non-activated planning permissions for apartments in the Greater Dublin Area, according to figures from the Building Control Management System (BCMS).
The figures also show that just one in four apartment units granted planning permission since 2020 have commenced construction. The BCMS is the official Government system that tracks building projects. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.
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Edward McCloskey, the founder of Louth-based WaterWipes has been named EY Entrepreneur of the Year (EoY) . The WaterWipes founder also took the international category award at a ceremony on Thursday evening in the Powerscourt Hotel in Enniskerry. Businessman Denis O’Brien received a special recognition award while Derek Foley Butler, the chief executive of Grid Finance, was named best international entrepreneur. Áine Kennedy, the founder of The Smooth Company, was chosen as emerging entrepreneur.
“The question for Ireland is this: can we afford not to look at nuclear when you consider the next generation of technology? Because if America and other European states adopt modular technology, and it proves to be efficient and net-zero, and we choose not to, will we render ourselves uncompetitive?,” Dave Kirwan, Bord Gais Energy chief executive, says in his interview with Barry O’Halloran.
What lies ahead for the world economy? A plausible answer is that it has started to splinter, writes Martin Wolf. However it is not clear whether China and those aligned to it or the US and it bloc will come out ahead. The big question, then, is: which of the two would-be hegemons will abandon their current economic follies sooner?
If Irish households are so rich, why does it feel like an illusion?
Cryptocurrencies are among the most speculative of assets, prone to the famous vagaries of investors and their animal spirits.
As the prices of artificial intelligence (AI) stocks have swollen over the past two years, so, too, have crypto valuations.
However, as concerns have mounted about wild overvaluations in the tech sector and an AI bubble – as well as concerns about the pace of interest rate cuts – the digital currency has since lost more than 25 per cent of its value. Paul Colgan charts the rise and fall of cryptocurrencies in our Agenda slot.
Simon Harris will probably never keep the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) completely happy.
They are, after all, paid to be the “budget watchdog.” But its latest report has highlighted the choices and risks facing the new Minister for Finance in stark terms. How Harris responds is going to be important for the future of the Coalition, writes Cliff Taylor in Smart Money.
For individuals, burnout doesn’t just damage productivity. It erodes long-term health and self-esteem, damages relationships and punctures parts of ourselves that aren’t easily reinflated. It’s not a recipe for success, writes Margaret E Ward in World of Work.
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