The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has confirmed that the various pandemic supports will be extended beyond the end of March. Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Micheal McGrath said the Government will set out its new plan next week as regards Covid-19 and “a line of sight” for people, businesses and households in relation to the…

The banking industry’s representative association, Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, has published a report claiming Irish banks are forced to hold three times the amount of capital as its European counterparts. The federation (BPFI) says this is adding to the cost of lending and mortgages here. When a bank makes a loan or sells a mortgage…

Almost 477,700 people are set to receive the Pandemic Unemployment Payment this week – a decrease of 3,666 over the last week, according to the Department of Social Protection. Meanwhile the numbers claiming the Covid-19 Enhanced Illness Benefit fell by 34% over the last week – from 7,149 to 4,707 – reflecting the drop in…

Hundreds of thousands of workers could lose out on redundancy payments if their employment is terminated because time spent claiming the Pandemic Unemployment Payment will not count when calculating entitlements.  The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has urged the Government to reform employment law so that the period spent on the PUP will count towards redundancy…

This week could be a big one for Ulster Bank’s 2,800 employees in the Republic of Ireland, its 1.1 million customers, the Irish banking market and the economy in general. After months of speculation about the possible outcome of a strategic review of Ulster Bank’s Republic of Ireland operations by its parent NatWest, clarity could…

It may be hard to believe for those who availed of it, but it’s 20 years since Ireland’s arguably most famous and controversial savings scheme was launched. In an attempt to encourage people to take some money – and a bit of heat – out of an economy that was starting to boom, the then…

The euro zone economy will rebound less than earlier expected from the coronavirus slump this year as a second wave of the pandemic put economies in new lockdowns, the European Commission said. But it added that growth in 2022 will be stronger than earlier thought.  The Commission forecast economic growth in 19 countries sharing the euro…

Ireland’s overall GDP growth is projected to come in at 3.4% in 2021 and is set to reach 3.5% in 2022 on the back of strong private consumption, exports and a recovery in investment. This is according to the European Commission’s Winter 2021 Economic Forecast, published today.  The Commission said the Government’s extended income subsidy schemes…

The European Union will strive for close co-operation with Britain on financial services, the EU Financial Services Commissioner Mairead McGuinness has said. But she said London cannot expect “equivalence-based” access to the EU financial market if it diverges widely on rules. Yesterday, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey urged the EU not to pick a…

The Director of Public Policy at Chartered Accountants Ireland has said Revenue will collect the tax owed on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment (PUP) for 2021 by reducing people’s tax credits when they return to work. Brian Keegan said that this is the normal course of events for most social welfare payments. But it will come as a…