Author Archives: splash

Paper explores cost of hiking social welfare payments in budget

A €1 increase in the personal rates of all weekly paid social welfare schemes in October’s budget would cost €69.4 million, according to new estimates. If an additional €1 was also to be paid to dependent adults and children, it would cost €89.4 million. While a €1 increase in the personal rates of all weekly […]

Read More

Warning of businesses going bust if VAT goes back to 13.5%

Hairdressers and restaurant owners have warned that if the reduced 9% VAT rate increases back to 13.5% again as planned at the end of August, it will put some out of businesses. In February the Government extended the 9% VAT rate further until September 1 as part of measures to assist those in the tourism, […]

Read More

Exports slow by €1.2 billion in May – CSO

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that Irish unadjusted exports of goods decreased by €1.2 billion to €16.7 billion in May compared to the same time last year. When seasonally adjusted, exports of goods fell by more than €400m in May from the previous month. Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products decreased by […]

Read More

ESRI downgrades GDP growth outlook for Irish economy

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has downgraded substantially its outlook for growth in Gross Domestic Product terms for the Irish economy, but it says the underlying position of the economy is still very strong. The ESRI says the domestic economy – as measured by Modified Domestic Demand (MDD) – is expected to experience […]

Read More

Government announces plan to boost cybersecurity

The Government has published a plan to boost cybersecurity, which includes measures to support the potential growth of the cybersecurity industry. The Mid-Term Review of the National Cyber Security Strategy 2019-2024 sets out 18 new actions to be implemented within the lifetime of the strategy. In a bid to address skills shortages, the plan will […]

Read More

Contactless payments surge to 3 million payments per day

The volume of contactless payments rose by almost 18% year-on-year to more than 268 million in the first quarter of the year, hitting three million payments a day. According to the latest Payments Monitor from Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), the value of contactless payments also increased, rising by 22% to almost €4.6 billion […]

Read More

ESRI downgrades GDP growth outlook for Irish economy

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has downgraded substantially its outlook for growth in Gross Domestic Product terms for the Irish economy, but it says the underlying position of the economy is still very strong. The ESRI says the domestic economy – as measured by Modified Domestic Demand (MDD) – is expected to experience […]

Read More