An organisation representing solid fuel merchant in Ireland has called for Government action to stem smuggling of coal into the country. Solid Fuel Merchants Ireland (SFMI) claims coal worth €56m is illegally brought into Ireland from Northern Ireland and sold here every year The body has called for additional enforcement measures to deal with the…

Significant business deals are expected to be signed over the next three days at Meitheal – the largest trade event for the Irish tourism industry. More than 450 Irish tourism providers will pitch their business to over 200 international buyers and tour operators from 17 countries. The event gets underway at the Gleneagle INEC in…

The pace of residential property price inflation slowed to an annual rate of 6.1% in January, compared to an annual rate of 7.7% in December, according to the latest Central Statistics Office figures. Today’s figures also show a marked increase in property sales by investors last year. The CSO said that home prices fell on…

The European Central Bank’s governing council is widely expected to raise interest rates by another half a percentage point today after its meeting in Frankfurt. The ECB’s move will come as the financial world continues to be rocked by turmoil in the banking sector in Europe and the United States. Today’s widely expected half point…

The level of capitalisation and liquidity in the Irish banking sector is very strong, the chief executive of the Irish Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) has said. Brian Hayes also said the supervisory and regulatory requirements in place put the entire banking sector here in good stead into the future. He was speaking as…

The European Commission has proposed changes to Europe’s electricity market rules, to try to increase the use of fixed-price power contracts, shield consumers from price spikes and speed up the shift to renewable energy. The European Union said last year it would overhaul its electricity market after cuts to Russian gas supplies drove European power…

European Central Bank policymakers are still leaning towards a half-percentage-point rate hike tomorrow, despite turmoil in the banking sector, as they expect inflation will remain too high in coming years, a source told Reuters. Investors had begun to doubt the ECB’s commitment to another big rate hike this week after the collapse of Silicon Valley…

Irish online consumers can be led into over consumption, over indebtedness and may lose out on fair pricing and terms due to online e-commerce practices by some sellers, according to the European Consumer Centre Ireland. Last year Irish people were the third biggest online shoppers in Europe after the Netherlands and Denmark. The European Consumer…

Non-bank lender, Finance Ireland, is increasing its fixed mortgage rates by up to 0.75%. The company said 5-year fixed rates will increase by 0.5%, while 3-year fixed rates will rise by 0.75%. The changes will take place from this Thursday. But the lender said that customers who have a loan offer by then will have…

MEPs will vote later today on proposals to set minimum energy standards for buildings across the EU. Among the changes, the heating and cooling of new buildings will have to result in zero emissions from 2028 onwards. The energy rating of existing residential buildings will have to meet a minimum E rating by 2030 and…