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The Government has been urged by budgetary watchdog the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council to take steps now to ensure State and public sector pensions are funded into the future. IFAC warns that otherwise tensions will arise when a smaller, younger, working population will have to pay more to fund a larger retired population. It recommends…

Financial literacy levels in Ireland appear to lag those in other comparable jurisdictions, a study carried out on behalf of Bank of Ireland concludes. The survey of over 1,000 adults here, which was conducted by Red C, found that Ireland had an average financial literacy score of 54%. The most recent directly comparable international studies…

Small firms were conned out of €8m last year as a result of cases of invoice and so-called CEO impersonation fraud. The Banking and Payments Federation Ireland’s (BPFI) FraudSMART campaign is warning businesses of a heightened risk of financial scams, particularly because of the increasing prevalence of working from home. Recent research by the Small…

The economy is set to grow more strongly this year than had been expected and may even overheat, according to the latest quarterly bulletin from the Economic and Social Research Institute. It expects the domestic economy to grow by 3.8% this year while inflation will moderate to 4.5%. Record levels of employment could stretch the…

More than 60,000 homes could be built on State-owned land, according to a report going to Cabinet this morning. The Report on Public Land identifies 83 State-owned sites with the potential for up to 67,000 homes in the medium to long-term. The work compiled by the Land Development Agency indicates that land in the cities…

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath will today seek Cabinet approval for Ireland to apply to become the base for the new EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA). The AMLA, set to be established in 2024, will be a major EU institution tasked with overseeing compliance with anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism rules and standards.…

The total value of Irish pensions fell by almost 16% last year, according to new figures. Rising interest rates and the geo-political uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine wiped significant value off pension funds around the globe. At the end of 2022 Irish pension assets were worth around €157 billion, having increased by an…

Mild weather February saw the country’s overall gas demand fall by 11% compared to January, and decrease by 25% in the residential sector month on month. Demand for gas increased by 7% in February compared to the same month last year, new figures from Gas Network Ireland shows today. Gas was the main source of…

The interest rates on a range of medium to long-term State savings products are to increase, on foot of several hikes of European Central Bank interest rates since last July. New issues of State Savings Fixed Rate, Savings Certificates, Instalment Savings and 10 Year National Solidarity Bond products are to take place. Shorter term products…

The Government supported almost 27,200 home energy upgrades or retrofits last year through the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. The SEAI says this is an 80% increase on 2021. The National Retrofit Plan has set a target of 500,000 homes upgraded to a B2 energy rating by 2030. Cutting emissions from heating homes is key…