Archive for April 2021

Most small and medium sized businesses in the food sector expect their revenues to increase in the year ahead, according to new research by Love Irish Food and PwC. The 2021 Irish SME Food Barometer found that 75% of companies in the sector are optimistic about their growth prospects. The findings suggest that there is…

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has said there will be “no abrupt end” to the Covid financial supports. Over the coming weeks, Michael McGrath said the Government will finalise its approach for those supports beyond the end of June, when they are due to finish. The Minister said the Government will be very…

Business confidence jumped in April to higher levels than seen even before the Covid-19 pandemic, as they eye the rollout of vaccines and some easing of restrictions, according to Bank of Ireland. The latest Bank of Ireland business pulse index rose by 14.3 points from March to 88.9 for the current month, according to a…

The first quarter of 2021 saw a significant increase in “necessity-led entrepreneurship” across the retail and wholesale sectors, the latest figures from credit risk analyst CRIFVision-Net show. Today’s figures reveal an 88% year-on-year increase in retail trade and wholesale start-ups. CRIFVision-Net said this suggested that the continued Covid-19 public health restrictions and resulting job losses…

Like many economic predictions when it comes to the pandemic, forecasts around the health insurance market have turned out to be wide of the mark. Given the impact Covid-19 has had on employment and incomes, it was reasonable to assume that health insurance would be high on the list of products that households would look…

Consumer sentiment climbed slightly to hit its highest in April since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, a survey showed today, but consumers expressed caution about the long-term economic outlook. The KBC Bank consumer sentiment index rose for a third month in a row to 77.9 in April from 77.1 in March. This was still…

The European Central Bank left policy unchanged as expected today, keeping copious stimulus flowing even as it saw reasons to expect a firm rebound of the euro area economy this year. The ECB is keeping borrowing costs pinned near record lows via massive bond purchases to see the 19-country currency bloc through a scarring recession…

New data from the Property Price Register shows that the volume of residential transactions rose 12% in the first three months of the year, despite the lockdown. According to Davy, €4.2bn of transactions involving 13,100 properties have been recorded so far this year, with buyers clearly undeterred by the difficult environment for buying. “Estate agents…

40% of workers aged between 20 and 69 have no occupational pension coverage other than the state pension, according to Age Action. Addressing a Pensions Commission webinar earlier today, Age Action Senior Public Affairs and Policy Specialist Dr Nat O’Connor noted that in certain sectors of the economy, a majority of employers do not offer…

Ireland is committed to reaching an agreement to overhaul global corporate tax, but it must be one that works for small countries and accommodates healthy and fair tax competition, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said today. Momentum has been building towards reaching a consensus on how to better tax multinational companies. But Paschal Donohoe said the…