The Government has announced plans for nine new apprenticeship programmes in the public service. If realised, the proposals will lead to the doubling of apprenticeship places in the public service including local authorities over the next two years. Currently there are around 373 such apprenticeships in operation, up 103 since 2021. The development of a…

After having returned to growth in June, construction activity in Ireland saw a renewed decline in July, after the BNP Paribas Real Estate Purchasing Managers’ Index. It also highlighted the first fall-off in new orders in six months. John McCartney, Director & Head of Research at BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland, said the decline in…

The number of passengers using commercial bus services in Ireland rose last year by 84%, according to new figures from the National Transport Authority (NTA). The report shows there were almost 19 million passenger journeys on licensed public bus services in 2022, but that is still well below the 30 million seen in 2019, before…

New figures today show that gas demand decreased by 20% in July compared to the same month last year, and by 8% when compared to June. Gas Networks Ireland said that gas demand fell by 46% in the construction sector, by 32% in the large office sector and by 31% in the education sector. Gas…

The Government body responsible for arranging power supply for state agencies could not even get companies to bid to provide electricity because of “extreme volatility” in energy prices last year. The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) tried to run a second tender competition, even making changes to the contract to encourage a “more positive market…

Advertised rents across the country increased by 2.4% between April and June, when compared to the first three months of the year. According to property listings website Daft.ie, the average market rent nationally in the second quarter stood at just under €1,800. It means rents sought in the open market are now 10.7% higher than…

The average interest rate on new mortgage arrangements in Ireland has breached the 4% mark. Figures from the Central Bank show that the average interest rate on new mortgages rose from 3.84% in May to 4.04% in June. The increase of 0.2 percentage points was the second biggest jump in average rates in the euro…

Euro zone bond yields dropped today as a European Central Bank (ECB) survey showed consumers expect inflation to keep slowing, while risk sentiment worsened on sticky inflation in Germany, weak China trade data and pressure on Italian banks. The ECB’s monthly Consumer Expectations Survey showed the median respondent in the June edition expected inflation to…

Retail spending in Dublin rose again between April and June, the ninth consecutive quarterly increase. Spend was up 1.1% on the previous quarter and 4.7% on the same period a year earlier, according to the latest MasterCard SpendingPulse, produced in conjunction with Grant Thornton and the four Dublin local authorities. However, while strong domestic demand…

Ireland had the highest price levels for consumer goods and services across the 27 countries of the European Union in 2021, a report from the Central Statistics Office has found. Prices were 43.8% above the average of the 27 countries, known as the EU27, it concluded. The latest Measuring Ireland’s Progress report covers the year…