Compiled by Laura Slattery
THE NUMBERS
136Settlements reached with the Revenue Commissioners between March and June this year from builders, developers, publicans, farmers, businessmen and others who failed to pay all of their taxes, with a sum of €31.7 million collected.
4Number of overly enthusiastic transatlantic shoppers stopped by the Revenue Commissioners' airport unit last year smuggling in goods from the US worth more than the import duty limits, with penalties of €2,062 collected.
$10 billionPossible value of social networking website Facebook based on rumours that Microsoft is in talks to buy up to 5 per cent of the firm for up to $500 million (€353 million).
45,000Number of new homes that will be built next year, according to the Construction Industry Federation - about 20,000 fewer homes than in most other predictions
QUOTE of the WEEK
"Ireland's economic fundamentals are strong and the Government's commitment to sound policies is firm, so we expect robust GNP [ gross national product] growth over the medium term."
- James Morsink of the International Monetary Fund gives the Government a good report card despite anticipating that the economy will slow down sharply next year.
WEEK QUOTE of the WEEK 2
"I think the time for me to go will be in three to five years."
- Michael O'Leary sets the timetable for his departure from Ryanair.
GOOD WEEK
Microsoft
"You are all, all of you, vermin. Cowering in the dirt, thinking what? That you might escape the coming fire . . ." sneers the voiceover for Halo 3, Microsoft's new video game. But not many gamers wanted to escape the hype for Halo 3, with sales topping $170 million (€120 million) in its first 24 hours.
French and Spanish citizens
Spanish parents are to be given "baby cheques" worth €2,500 for every child, with €1,000 extra for single parents, as part of a €2.3 billion tax package in a generous Spanish budget, while French president Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled €9 billion in tax cuts.
Hasbro
The Monopoly maker's whim to allow the public to vote for the locations they wanted to see on a new UK-wide version of the game won several hotels' worth of publicity, even if there was plenty of griping that the town of St Albans won the coveted Mayfair (Shrewsbury Road) position, while Leeds and Liverpool had to settle for the cheap "brown" spots. An Irish edition will be launched on Monday.
BAD WEEK
GMTV
The ITV breakfast show was fined £2 million (€2.86 million) by media regulator Ofcom for allowing viewers to waste £1.80 a call to enter premium-rate phone competitions after they had selected the winners. The scandal was uncovered by the BBC's Panorama programme and has led to corruption "audits" at both broadcasters.
iPhone manipulators
Apple pounced in its "game of cat and mouse" with hackers, warning that anybody attempting to unlock their iPhones to use on an unauthorised mobile network would render their phones "permanently inoperable". The handsets are tied to the AT&T network in the US and O2 in the UK.
The Irish corporate tax yield
A proposed new EU corporate tax formula that would divert a company's tax receipts to the EU state where the consumer buys the product, rather than the state where the firm is based, will hit the Irish corporate tax yield if it is introduced.
