New car registrations for last month dropped 72.3% when compared to May 2019, according to the latest figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry. 1,751 new cars were registered last month, compared to 6,320 in May 2019. The figures reveal that Covid-19 has heavily impacted on sales, with retailer’s showrooms remaining closed until the 18th of…
Irish manufacturing activity suffered a further severe deterioration last month, according to figures published today. The AIB Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for May shows that although many indicators recovered some of the ground lost in April’s collapse, they still signalled rapid falls. The PMI rose from April’s 11-year low of 36.0 to 39.2 in…
Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Regina Doherty has told the Dáil she will bring forward proposals for some changes to the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment within the next week or so. She said that the Government is reviewing the nature of the payment. Ms Doherty reiterated that the Pandemic Unemployment Payment and the…
Fraudsters may have accessed thousands of taxpayers’ Revenue accounts using information provided by them unwittingly. Revenue has written to around 3,000 taxpayers advising them that their myAccount may have been accessed as part of a scam which was sent via text message. Revenue’s Chief Information Officer, John Barron, explained that Revenue constantly monitors for suspect…
New figures from the Central Bank show that the total value of card transactions (including ATM transactions) decreased by 35% in April – the biggest annual decline recorded since the series began. Today’s figures are the Central Bank’s first statistics to capture a full month of data where the Covid-19 emergency containment measures were in…
The European Commission has proposed a recovery fund of €750 billion, which it says is designed to repair the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. According to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the money would be disbursed via grants and loans, with the commission using the EU budget as leverage to raise…
An assessment of consumer spending on food outside the home, such as in restaurants, has found that the sector could fall in value by as much as €5 billion this year as a result of Covid-19. Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, has published a paper which sets out the best and worst case scenarios…
Bank customers who require a break from repaying their mortgages or loans because of the impact the Covid-19 crisis is having on their finances will have to apply for one by 30 June, the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland has said. The BPFI said the deadline has been set by the European Banking Authority. As…
The State’s largest property owner, Irish Residential Properties REIT, said today that the overall supply of new housing and apartments is expected to be impacted by the ongoing restrictions due to Covid-19. In a statement issued ahead of its AGM today, it said it continued to add to its portfolio with the addition of 73 new apartments…
The Government has been advised to introduce a “significant” stimulus plan for the economy, once the immediate Covid-19 crisis is over. However, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC|) has also warned that “all options must be kept on the table”, including spending cuts and tax rises to bring the public finances back in line once…