Breakfast Business with Joe Lynam

Joe Lynam takes a run through of some of the main business news headlines this morning.

A conglomerate is a holding company which owns many disparate businesses often unrelated.  DCC is Ireland’s biggest but it’s set to cease being one as it’s now said that it will divest itself of its healthcare and technology divisions and focus exclusively on Energy and make a real push on renewable and low carbon fuels.  It’s a big move and one that was cheered by the markets yesterday...

Tuesday's business headlines along with Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Unemployment remains at near record lows and has done so for 2 years.  It means that in a fully functioning economy, employees rather than employers hold the whip hand in pay and conditions talks.  But do they really?  Who is looking for jobs here and what types of jobs are they looking for? Joe asked Jack Kennedy is Senior Economist with the recruitment website Indeed.

There are quite a few family-owned or run companies in the hospitality sector who are worried about rising costs including minimum wages, energy and misc employment costs.  Over the weekend Fine Gael said it would cut VAT in that sector to 11% and yesterday Fianna Fail promised to cut PRSI if they get back in.  To discuss what family run companies want from a new government Joe spoke to&...

Monday's business news headlines review with Joe Lynam and Kathleen brooks from XTB.

Those of you renewing your car insurance will have certainly noticed that premiums have been going up appreciably despite nothing changing in your own circumstances. That's because the cost of car repairs and the vehicles themselves have soared in value.  The cost to your business of a cyber attack is also soaring and new research says that fewer than 10% of SMEs have cyber cover.  Joini...

There was a time not long ago when Hydrogen was seen as the great and cheap hope for renewable energy.  A fuel that is bountiful and emits only water.  But the  S&P Kensho Hydrogen Economy Index which measures companies that focus on Hydrogen fell to an all time low over the summer amid fears of a recession.  Will things might get even worse for those in the Hydrogen space?...

The Australian government has announced that no one under the age of 16 will be allowed to use social media from now on. It’s the first such decision by a western government and may even start a trend. But could it work or would it be flouted?   Our Technology Correspondent Jess Kelly has more.

David Duffy use to run Virgin Money in the UK but sold it to the Nationwide building society this year. You would remember him because he used to run AIB after it was all but nationalised in 2011.  Apart from Ireland and the UK he’s also worked for global players including Goldman Sachs and Standard bank in South Africa. Joe asked David has banking changed?

Securitization is the financial alchemy of taking not easily or non tradable assets, pooling them together, and selling tradable shares or securities in that pool to investors. Many people blame securitisation for the financial crisis of 2007 as many worthless mortgages had been included and given a much higher value by the ratings agencies. Now there are moves afoot to restart the use of securiti...

Thursday's business news headlines along with Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Making a cup of coffee is not especially great for the environment.  It’s grown thousands of miles away, shipped and stored, roasted and then steamed before we take our first sip. So making that whole process greener or more sustainable is tough but that’s what Bewleys are hoping to do with the beans that they will use in their restaurants by using a process called Integrated Open Canopy in t...

Three quarters of Irish consumers believe that banking transaction fees are too much according to a new survey from Wise. But what is notable is that 20% of us only use traditional banks for day to day spending and moving our money around. It shows that the Top three older banks have their work cut out to attract the customers of the future who tend to prefer digital banks which don't have branche...

The shocking scenes of flooding in Spain and the rising death toll have also created concern about the fresh food sector there and whether that could lead to problems getting fruit and vegetable to Ireland.  The rain continues to pour in Spain but so far we’ve escaped problems in the food chain here.  But is it too soon?   Justin Leonard is the Managing Director of Jackie Leona...

Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam takes a look at the main business headlines this morning.

Whether it’s Sally Rooney, Joseph O’Connor, Colin Tobin or Roddy Doyle, Ireland is currently blessed with a crop of wonderful writers. In fact the Irish publishing industry is also in rude health. But how do they pick winners and how do dreamt-up words end up on bookshelves especially now as the sector faces its busiest period of the year? Deirdre Nolan runs Irish division of the Swedish owned Bon...

This week and possibly as early as today the High Court could order a stay or pause on the cap on the number of passengers allowed to use Dublin airport next summer.  It’s something that Ryanair has been calling for. It has just posted its half yearly results which show the airline made a profit of €1.79bn down 18% on the same period last year.  It said that its traffic was up 9% but the...

Monday's business news headlines with Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Tonight is the night for all League of Ireland fans.  We find out in a few hours whether Shelbourne or Shamrock Rovers win the SSE Airtricity Premier division. It’s the denouement of a crazy season which started with Shels at a very remote 25/1 price to win it and the near demise of Dundalk.  But it’s also been a lucrative one according to a report from BDO which suggests that the league...

When not focussing on our own economy we tend to obsess with the British and German economies but the fastest growing large economy in the G7 group of industrialised nations will be Spain this year with an expected GDP of 2.9%.  So what’s behind this surge and will it be derailed from the awful flooding which has taken 100 lives this week and may be the biggest insurance event in the world th...

Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam takes a look at Thursday's business news headlines with Aidan Donnelly.

The next time you're at a DIY store and buy a power tool or some decking, the chances are those products will have been sourced from United Hardware which was formed last year when Associated Hardware and National Hardware came together to avail of economies of scale. Speaking to Joe this morning on the show was Paul Candon Chief Executive of United Hardware and also is a veteran of H Williams and...

We’ve Fintech, Regtech and now InsurTech or the new technologies being deployed in the insurance sector. A new report from the Irish startup InsTech suggests that there are 114 Insurtech companies based here with the potential to make the country a cluster of innovation in insurance.  But will any of this drive down premiums?  Joe asked Gary Leyden is the Chief Executive of InsTech.ie.

Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam takes a look at Thursday's business news headlines.