Ifac sounds alarm on Budget spending

Government policy has added about €1,000 in costs to households and is needlessly adding to price pressures, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, chaired by Seamus Coffey, has warned, in a stark criticism of the current occupants of Merrion Street. Ifac is regularly critical of spending plans, but in the run up to the budget these issues become more urgent. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the story, and also analyses the issues at play.
A long serving member of administrative staff at the country’s largest trade union who “filled her time drinking coffee and doing crosswords,” after having been left with no work to do following her election to an internal staff council has been awarded €15,000 at the Workplace Relations Commission. Emmet Malone has the details.
Starting a family is one of the most consequential decisions in any person’s life. But how much can it cost? Joanne Hunt breaks down what is involved.
Do we need a Department of Infrastructure? The Taoiseach floated the idea last month but as John McManus argues in his column, there are solutions to Ireland’s infrastructure deficit already there to be utilised.
Paschal Donohoe was in London to play up the positives of EU capital markets union to the financiers of The City. He took the time to explain to Mark Paul why CMU is so important and how Ireland, and The City, can benefit.
Irish services activity continued to rise solidly in August, according to the latest purchasing managers index (PMI) published by AIB. Growth of new business and employment accelerated last month, while the level of outstanding work increased at the strongest rate in nearly a year. Still, the overall 12-month outlook was the weakest since November 2022. Laura Slattery reports.
As Volkswagen workers in Germany brace for news of big job cuts, expected today, the executive accused of overseeing widespread diesel fraud has finally gone on trial. As Derek Scally reports, former VW chief Martin Winterkorn, once the most powerful man in German business, is not accused of direct responsibility for the fraud, exposed nine years ago. Instead, he allegedly failed to intervene when he found out and failed to inform markets promptly.
Dublin Airport manager DAA has criticised a “discouraging” ruling by the aviation watchdog that it should “reassess” charges it intends to levy against airlines next year. It came after the Irish Aviation Authority published a report confirming a ruling it made in May that the DAA should reconsider its tolls. Colin Gleeson has the details of the investigation by the watchdog was carried out on foot of a Ryanair complaint.
A Government-commissioned mortgage arrears review group has called for a removal of the current €3 million secured debt limit for individuals to secure insolvency deals, under measures aimed at tackling more than 20,000 long-term arrears cases in the State. Joe Brennan reports.
The representative body for Irish semester and summer study-abroad education programme operators has said it is investigating reports of unexplained increases in the utility fees charged by private student housing companies this summer. Ian Curran reports.
The company behind Press Up Group’s Dean Hotel on Dublin’s Harcourt Street swung to a nearly €2.3 million operating loss in the year leading up to the sale of a majority stake in the wider hotel group to UK and US investors. Ian has the story.
In commercial property, Ronald Quinlan reports that having secured planning permission for a wellness facility, spa and interpretative centre in Booterstown, south Dublin, developers Paddy McKillen jnr and Matt Ryan are seeking a buyer for the site at a guide price of €5 million. Ronald also reports that French investor Atland Voisin has made its first investment in Ireland’s commercial real estate market, paying about €24 million for “20 on Hatch”, a prime office building on Lower Hatch Street in Dublin city centre.
Stay up to date with all our business news: sign up to our Business Today daily email news digest. If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money, the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.