Earlier this month, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien told Prime Time that the Government’s proposed shared equity scheme, a core part of the recently published Housing For All plan, had been approved by the Central Bank. But the Central Bank has indicated that the scheme, which could see the State paying up to 30% of the…

The Central Bank has approved a new fund that will facilitate credit unions to get involved in the delivery of social and affordable housing around the country. The Credit Union Approved Housing Body Fund will oversee up to €800 million investment in social and affordable homes with an initial €200 million being deployed over the…

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has said the Government should abandon its plans for tax cuts in the upcoming Budget and instead prioritise increases in public expenditure on housing, healthcare and childcare. In its pre-budget submission, ICTU says permanent tax cuts are unaffordable and unjustified. ICTU says the pandemic has shown that basic…

Nearly half of all college students say they struggle to afford living expenses, according to a survey carried out by the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) and youth website Spunout. The findings show that 88% worry about money, while over 40% stress about money all of the time. Finding and keeping a job, travel…

The Minister for Finance has said that forecasts now indicate the country will get back to pre-pandemic levels of employment and broader economic performance by around 2023, but he is increasingly hopeful progress could be quicker. Paschal Donohoe also said the country has made enormous progress with its economic and public health since March of…

The construction sector reported another month of rapid growth in August, the latest Ulster Bank Construction Purchasing Managers Index shows, as it continued to benefit from improvements in demand after the reopening of the sector. Ulster Bank noted that the rate of expansion did ease for the third consecutive month in August, but from what…

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Leo Varadkar said today that the economy is “actually ahead of where we thought we would be”. Mr Varadkar said he still believes it is possible to get the public finances back on a sustainable footing without tax increases and cuts to spending. “I think I am even more convinced…

No sooner had the first Covid-19 vaccine jabs been administered when talk turned to the risk of price inflation accompanying an impending recovery in economies globally from the pandemic. It all started in the US where incoming President Joe Biden was keen to hit the ground running with a series of stimulus programmes amounting to…

Irish consumers’ use of online and mobile payment methods has continued to increase despite the easing of restrictions on physical retail, according to Banking and Payments Federation Ireland. Meanwhile the move away from cash continued, with contactless payments hitting a new record in July. A new report by BPFI shows that the volume of online…

The annual rate of inflation rose by 2.8% in August, its biggest increase in almost ten years. The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show higher fuel costs was the primary driver of price increases. Prices have gradually increased over the past ten months, the longest stretch since 2007, according to the CSO. The…