Archive for February 2022

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…

Demand for gas in January was up almost 11% on December’s levels, according to Gas Networks Ireland’s latest gas demand statement. A drop in temperatures and the return of people to schools and offices after the Christmas holidays accounted for much of the increase. Demand was so strong that three days during January were among…

The Irish League of Credit Unions has called on the Minister with Responsibility for Credit Unions, Sean Fleming, to make the necessary regulatory changes to enable credit unions to significantly increase their footprint in the mortgage market. In a statement, the Irish League of Credit Unions said credit unions would like to be in a…

Sinn Féin’s spokesman on finance Pearse Doherty has said the EU’s fiscal rules need to be replaced by “fiscal standards” which would allow for investment in areas like housing as well as the environment. The fiscal rules were suspended during the pandemic but are due to be reintroduced next year. There is currently a broad…

Land deals to the value of €648 million were transacted in 2021, representing growth of 11% on the previous year, a report from property consultants Savills Ireland concluded. Demand for land in prime areas with planning permission in place was described as ‘very strong’, attracting significant bids. Sites without permission have also been performing well,…

The vacancy rate in the Dublin office market stood at 10% last year and could edge higher this year, a report from consultants BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland concludes. 2021 was the weakest year for lettings since 2012, the report found. But the rise in the vacancy rate was contained by relatively modest levels of…

The jobs market is largely cyclical. Highly dependent on the ebb and flow of economic prosperity, the situation generally swings from being in the applicant’s favour to that of the employer. Right now, it’s very much to the former’s advantage. With an economy that has weathered the Covid pandemic better than most had predicted, the…

The EU is not overly alarmed at the growing use of crypto-assets, the EU Commissioner for financial services, financial stability and Capital Markets Union has said. But Mairead McGuinness also warned that any new financial instrument that is growing and unregulated can cause enormous problems if “we don’t get to grips with it”. Earlier this…

The number of people employed in Ireland increased by 10.1% to just over 2.5 million in the year to the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office. It the first time the number has exceeded 2.5 million since the CSO data series began. The Labour Force Survey also…