Archive for April 2021

Figures published the Central Statistics Office today give a provisional breakdown of the €13.1 billion spent by the Government last year to tackle Covid-19. The Pandemic Unemployment Payment accounted for €5 billion, the CSO figures show. The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and its replacement, the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, accounted for €3.8 billion. Health sector…

Job postings on e-recruitment platform IrishJobs.ie were up 34% in the first quarter of the year, compared to the final quarter of 2020. The data suggests the Irish jobs market is steadily recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Overall, vacancies increased by 5%, when compared to the same period last year. The most…

The construction industry could be unable to meet pent-up demand for housing and infrastructure, even when fully reopened, due to labour shortages and a “boom and bust” cycle in the sector, according to new research. The report titled ‘Job Quality in the Construction Sector’ warns that this could have serious implications for Ireland’s housing and…

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath has said the Covid-19 supports paid to businesses were “never intended to be a subsidy for insurance companies”. The Minister said the Government is “examining” the issue of insurance companies seeking to deduct such payments from payouts owed to businesses. “The supports that the State has provided…

A survey by the Central Bank and the ESRI has found the impact of Covid-19 on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) has been “profound”. The survey reveals that almost a quarter of SMEs could be vulnerable to liquidation when insolvency criteria begin to normalise. The survey, carried out between July and September last year,…

The Minister for Finance has said that scaling up the vaccine programme is key to the re-opening of the economy and that is happening now with 170,000 vaccines planned for this week. Paschal Donohoe said that re-openings in March and April happened and in the coming weeks and months the delivery of vaccine targets will…

Land prices remained resilient last year despite the threat posed by Covid-19, according to a report by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and Teagasc. Nationally, the price for non-residential land ranged from an average of €5,900 per acre for poor quality land to €9,381 for good quality land. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland…

A report on pensions has found that fees and charges are so high that over time they are wiping out the tax relief given to pension savers by the State. The findings have led the Labour Party to draw up legislation that would force pension providers to be more transparent about charges. Labour finance spokesman…

Brexit trigged a major reduction in cargo volumes at Dublin Port in the first quarter of this year, while Covid-19 also hit passenger numbers. The Dublin Port Company said today that its trade volumes fell by 15.2% in the first three months of 2021. The main driver was a decline in freight from British ports,…

Ulster Bank, Bank of Scotland Ireland, Rabobank, Danske Bank, and more. There have been plenty of lenders who have dipped their toes in the Irish banking sector, only to discover in recent years that the temperature of the water is not to their liking, and disappear. And now it seems one more may be about…