The European Central Bank left policy unchanged as expected today, keeping copious stimulus flowing even as it saw reasons to expect a firm rebound of the euro area economy this year. The ECB is keeping borrowing costs pinned near record lows via massive bond purchases to see the 19-country currency bloc through a scarring recession…

New data from the Property Price Register shows that the volume of residential transactions rose 12% in the first three months of the year, despite the lockdown. According to Davy, €4.2bn of transactions involving 13,100 properties have been recorded so far this year, with buyers clearly undeterred by the difficult environment for buying. “Estate agents…

40% of workers aged between 20 and 69 have no occupational pension coverage other than the state pension, according to Age Action. Addressing a Pensions Commission webinar earlier today, Age Action Senior Public Affairs and Policy Specialist Dr Nat O’Connor noted that in certain sectors of the economy, a majority of employers do not offer…

Ireland is committed to reaching an agreement to overhaul global corporate tax, but it must be one that works for small countries and accommodates healthy and fair tax competition, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said today. Momentum has been building towards reaching a consensus on how to better tax multinational companies. But Paschal Donohoe said the…

Figures published the Central Statistics Office today give a provisional breakdown of the €13.1 billion spent by the Government last year to tackle Covid-19. The Pandemic Unemployment Payment accounted for €5 billion, the CSO figures show. The Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and its replacement, the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, accounted for €3.8 billion. Health sector…

Job postings on e-recruitment platform IrishJobs.ie were up 34% in the first quarter of the year, compared to the final quarter of 2020. The data suggests the Irish jobs market is steadily recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Overall, vacancies increased by 5%, when compared to the same period last year. The most…

The construction industry could be unable to meet pent-up demand for housing and infrastructure, even when fully reopened, due to labour shortages and a “boom and bust” cycle in the sector, according to new research. The report titled ‘Job Quality in the Construction Sector’ warns that this could have serious implications for Ireland’s housing and…

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath has said the Covid-19 supports paid to businesses were “never intended to be a subsidy for insurance companies”. The Minister said the Government is “examining” the issue of insurance companies seeking to deduct such payments from payouts owed to businesses. “The supports that the State has provided…

A survey by the Central Bank and the ESRI has found the impact of Covid-19 on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) has been “profound”. The survey reveals that almost a quarter of SMEs could be vulnerable to liquidation when insolvency criteria begin to normalise. The survey, carried out between July and September last year,…

The Minister for Finance has said that scaling up the vaccine programme is key to the re-opening of the economy and that is happening now with 170,000 vaccines planned for this week. Paschal Donohoe said that re-openings in March and April happened and in the coming weeks and months the delivery of vaccine targets will…