A round-up of today's other stories in brief
House prices 'up by 13.1% in year to date'
The indications are that house price inflation in 2005 will be the strongest for a number of years, the chief economist with the Sherry FitzGerald group said yesterday.
Marian Finnegan said the average price of second-hand property rose by 3.9 per cent during the third quarter of 2005. Total growth for the year is 13.1 per cent.
In Dublin, the second-hand market saw inflation of 5.1 per cent in the third quarter, making for year to date inflation of 17.5 per cent, Ms Finnegan said.
Providence well has oil, gas traces
Providence Resources said yesterday that the Aje-3 appraisal well off the coast of Nigeria had reached its target depth of 8,482 feet. Significant gas traces suggest a section of the well is gas bearing, Providence said, while modular dynamic testing confirmed the presence of oil.
"The Aje-3 appraisal well has provided considerable valuable information to progress our understanding of the Aje field," chief executive Tony O'Reilly Jnr said.
Congestion blamed on Government
More than two-thirds of Irish businesses believe that the Government's failure to make prompt decisions is the reason for Dublin's worsening congestion.
A survey by Dublin Chamber of Commerce showed that 70 per cent of businesses in the capital cited the Government's failure to make prompt decisions as the most significant blockage to developing the necessary infrastructure for Dublin.
Moreover, 90 per cent of those questioned view the Government's performance at tackling congestion as either "poor" or "very poor".
Poor logistics 'bad for competition'
Irish firms are in danger of becoming less competitive because of their poor levels of supply chain management, the National Institute for Transport and Logistics (NITL) said yesterday.
Irish businesses are generally badly informed about key aspects of their own operations and lack effective supply chain management strategies, the group said, citing its own survey.
Richardson to be Pioneer chairman
Robert Richardson, the chief executive of Pioneer Investment Management, has been appointed as the new chairman of the Irish Association of Investment Managers (IAIM). He replaces outgoing chairman, Ruth O'Briain.
