News

President Michael D Higgins has signed into law measures that will allow for the taxation of institutional investors who buy homes in bulk. In a bid to clamp down on the bulk purchase of homes, a stamp duty of 10% will be applied to institutional investors that buy ten homes or more. Apartments will not…

The Government has approved the drafting of a bill which will introduce a cap on the interest rates that moneylenders can charge. The legislation proposes two rate caps, one for cash loans, and one for running accounts – these are similar to tied credit cards, and are often used by catalogue companies. For cash loans,…

Euro zone government bond yields fell on Monday ahead of Thursday’s policy meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB), while concerns about the Delta variant of the coronavirus continued to dampen risk sentiment. ECB policymakers are set for a showdown as they chart a new policy path, with disagreements on the economic outlook and thus…

Almost 14,000 new companies were registered in Ireland in the first half of the year, up 42% on the same period in 2020 – according to CRIF Vision Net. Within this period, March was the strongest month for start-ups recording a total of 2,715 new registrations. According to the data, the legal, accounting and business…

It’s not just temperatures which have shot up this week. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) confirmed that the economy, or at least parts of it, is going through a definite heatwave of spectacular growth. We also learned through the Summer Economic Statement that the Government intends to borrow a lot more money than had been…

The Chairman of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has expressed concern at the Government plans to run a deficit of almost 3%, which would result in a modest fall in the ratio of debt to national income from 110% to 106% by 2025. Sebastian Barnes, who works at the OECD Economics Department, said Ireland has…

Consumers now feel safer going to restaurants, hotels and attending in-person events, according to a new survey from Deloitte. Their monthly ‘Consumer Tracker’ survey tracks Irish consumers’ attitudes towards personal wellbeing, financial concerns, travel and hospitality, transport and retail. The most recent data was gathered between 24 and 30 June. It shows that consumers’ financial…

There are indications in Bank of Ireland’s latest Savings and Investment Index that appetite for saving money is declining as the economy continues to gradually reopen. In May of last year, 55% of people surveyed by the bank said they saw it as a good time to save money, but this had dropped to 47%…

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said he is “so committed” to retaining Ireland’s low corporate tax rate that he is not willing to sign up to a new international tax agreement in its current form. 130 countries and jurisdictions have signed up to a plan that will bring sweeping new reforms to global corporation…

Almost two thirds of parents surveyed by the Irish League of Credit Unions for its annual back to school survey say that covering the cost of sending a child to school amounts to a financial burden. Around a quarter of respondents say they get into debt in order to cover the costs every year. The…