Archive for March 2020

The EU will today assess the travel ban on Europe imposed by US President Donald Trump, European Council President Charles Michel said, adding: “Economic disruption must be avoided.”  Michel coordinates action by the leaders of the EU’s 27 member states. His tweet follows an overnight decision by Trump to suspend travel from Europe – but…

The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) has said a VAT deferral scheme is vital to alleviate serious cashflow pressures in the tourism and hospitality sectors. The representative body said immediate action is critical because thousands of jobs are at stake due to the volume of cancellations and lack of future bookings. “Coronavirus is first and foremost…

Europe’s banks have called on European Union authorities to ease capital rules and other regulatory barriers to helping businesses struggling because of the coronavirus epidemic.  The European Banking Federation (EBF) comprises national banking industry bodies from across Europe. It has set out a three-stage plan in a letter to the European Union, European Central Bank and…

The Government is to introduce emergency legislation in the Dáil to amend the rules on sick pay, which will see Illness Benefit rise from €203 per week to €305. It will be available from the first day of illness rather than after six days as at present, and conditionality will be waived to allow the…

Analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows that life satisfaction rose in Ireland by 5% or more between 2013 and 2018. The How’s Life report, which looks at all aspects of well-being from health and social connections to income and security, shows that since 2013 life satisfaction has either remained stable or…

Europe’s main stocks indices opened higher this morning, a day after markets suffered their biggest losses in more than a decade on crashing oil prices and coronavirus fears. Shares in London and Paris had gained 1.5% in early trade, while the Frankfurt market was up 0.8%. Shares in Dublin also rallied with the ISEQ index…

The country’s gross domestic product grew by 5.5% in 2019, likely making it the European Union’s fastest-growing economy again, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show today.  The pace of growth was lower that the 6.3% predicted by the Finance Department as the country braces for the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.  GDP, which…

The European Union is hopeful of reaching a “mini” trade accord with the US in the coming weeks. But there are still difficult issues to overcome including barriers for farm products, EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said today. Mr Hogan made his comments at a European Parliament Ireland event in Dublin about EU trade amid…

European shares slumped across the board this morning as a lockdown in northern Italy due to the coronavirus outbreak and a 30% plunge in oil prices amplified fears of a global recession.  London’s commodity-heavy FTSE 100 was down 8.6%,with shares of oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell down more than 20%.  The top decliner…

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has called on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to ensure that workers affected by Covid-19 do not suffer any loss of income that might deter them from self-isolating to contain the spread of coronavirus. It comes as employers body Ibec refused to give an assurance that employers would provide sick pay to…