News

The European Commission is inviting comments on the commitments offered by Insurance Ireland to address competition concerns around access to a data sharing platform which the insurance body runs. EU competition regulators announced last summer that they had formed the preliminary view after a two-year investigation that Insurance Ireland breached competition rules in the motor…

The cost of living and the price of housing are the key issues facing the economy and people’s personal finances, according to a survey by Permanent TSB (PTSB). PTSB published the latest edition of its Reflecting Ireland research series on Friday. The series polls public attitudes each quarter and includes recurring questions about how people…

Consumer sentiment dipped in February, according to the latest survey from KBC Bank Ireland. The drop was blamed on the increase in living costs experienced by households in recent weeks, as well as rising concerns about a conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Consumer sentiment fell to 77 in February – down almost five points on…

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe is “optimistic” that progress can be made on the completion of the EU banking union in the coming months, identifying it as “an important priority” for him in his role as president of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers. Mr Donohoe said he was “committed” to fulfilling the mandate…

Women, younger people and the lower paid are strongly in favour of more flexible working arrangements according to a poll carried out on behalf of the Labour Party. In a survey carried out by Ireland Thinks, 71% of respondents agreed that employees who can work remotely should have the right to do so. Some 81%…

Mortgage approvals fell in January when compared to the previous month, but were higher year-on-year, according to data from the Banking Payments Federation of Ireland. There were 3,621 mortgages approved last month, down 6.1% on December but 7.9% higher than in January 2021. The total value of the month’s approvals stood at €932m, which was…

A new report from the Central Bank has found that lower income, older and rural households have faced a higher than average increase in the cost of living in recent months. This is because they spend a bigger proportion of their income on heating, energy and transport, all of which have gone up sharply in…

The State took on an additional €33 billion in debt over the two years of the pandemic, according to a new report from the Department of Finance. The national debt stood at €237 billion at the end of last year. This equates to €47,233 for every person in the country and is described in the…

A new law strengthening consumer rights has been approved by the Government. The Consumer Rights Bill will provide protections over digital goods and services, meaning people will have the same rights over anything they stream or download as they do over a product or service they would buy in a shop. The legislation also cracks…

New analysis shows that the country’s stock of houses available for sale is now at the lowest level on record. The analysis from Sherry FitzGerald shows there were only 14,400 second-hand properties listed for sale nationwide in January. The estate agents said this represents a 6.7% fall over the past twelve months, with over 1,000…