Breakfast Business with Joe Lynam

Public sector employees earn a gross salary of up to 6.6% less than their private sector equivalents.  But if you include smaller companies, that pay disadvantage all but disappears.  Then of course there are the huge perks enjoyed by civil servants such as very generous pensions and the fact that they are virtually unfireable. So do public sector workers earn more or less than those wor...

A look at today's business stories and websites with Joe Lynam.

As of the end of last month, the UK customs authorities have been inspecting all foods that enter the country from the EU.  But now there’s a €145 inspection charge per consignment even though it’s not exactly clear what constitutes a consignment.  The good news for Irish food exporters is that these rules do not YET apply to us as members of the Common Travel Area. But they will and it...

There were just over 9,000 burglaries in Ireland last year.  That was roughly half the number before lockdowns in 2019.  So does that mean we need less alarms?  One business which certainly doesn't think so is Action24 which is competing in an ever-congested space of monitoring homes using technology and a call out service.  Unlike Phonewatch which is owned by a Norwegian compa...

Joe Lynam takes a run through of Monday's business news and websites.

Ireland has set itself a target of 70% of its energy mix coming from renewable energy sources. Currently wind, wave and solar energy accounts for a modest 37%.The next stages in offshore wind energy are in the Irish planning swamp where there is a shortage of skilled experts to adjudicate but plenty of NIMBYs prepared to hold it up.    Speaking to Joe this morning was TJ Hunter, Sen...

The good news is that the most important part of the Irish economy the services sector is still growing.  But it's the slowest pace of growth so far this year. Financial services were the best performing sub sectors and technology and media the weakest and yet they all had some sort of growth. To discuss this and the wider economy was David McNamara is the Chief Economist with AIB. 

A look at today's business stories and websites with Joe Lynam and Austin Hughes.

The International Energy Agency said that 17% of Ireland's total energy usage was accounted for by data centres in 2022.  That number may well be higher now. But data centres could well be considered as important to this economy as Ardnacrusha was to electrify Ireland a decade ago or even water treatment facilities are today.  There’s no doubt that data centres are the backbone of t...

A look at today's business stories and websites with Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam.

The Employment Permits Bill was set to change what kind of workers outside the EU and UK could get permission to live and work here.  It covers seasonal employment and whether spouses could also come live here.  But the Minister steering the Bill through the Oireachtas Neale Richmond has moved to the Department of Finance and immigration has also suddenly become a very hot political and...

Bord na Móna used to be the cause of some of the biggest carbon pollutants in Ireland by burning Peat and briquettes from Boglands. It has done a full U-turn on its business and now aims to be very green. One of the ways that it is doing this is by establishing wind farms on its lands mostly in the Midlands and as part of that it has opened the first Eco-energy park, in Co Offaly. Its first big cu...

Advertising is the backbone of the world of radio, television and online. Without it, most of the stuff that we enjoy for free wouldn’t be possible without some sort of subscription. But does advertising work in the way hoped for by companies? There’s a new major survey underway called the Good Life 2030 Ireland. The survey seems to suggest that 77% of people expect advertising to improve lifestyl...

There is a growing body of people who think that flying is seriously bad for the environment and should be curtailed.  There is talk about a tax on aviation fuel and even some sort of levy on frequent flyers.  But would that work?  Would it stifle economic activity and perhaps not even help the environment as planned?  Speaking to Joe this morning was Cathal Foley, is the chief...

It’s hard to believe Samsung was only founded 54 years ago in what was then a relatively underdeveloped South Korea. It now employs more than a quarter of a million people and is a by-word for affordable quality.  Samsung has just launched a new suite of products at EuroCucina trade Fair and we find out a bit more about the company by speaking to Tanya Weller, Marketing Director for Home Appl...

A look at today's business stories and websites with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

The Global Economic Summit is taking place next month in Co Kerry and there will be quite a few celebs attending including Hilary Clinton, Prince Albert of Monaco and Mary Robinson.   But one person who will be there is Hilary O'Meara, Country Managing Director for Accenture in Ireland.   She’s in charge of more than 6,000 people here on the consulting side which has also proven to...

When it comes to energy, the direction of travel is clear fossil fuels are bad while renewables are good.  But getting us to use more electricity will be a long, messy and expensive business. There will be lots of stakeholders including government, landowners, lawyers, experts and a few NIMBYs. So a new body has been formed which includes the likes of the ESB, Bord na Mona and SSE Airtricity....

A look at today's business stories and websites with Joe Lynam and Kathleen Brooks from XTB.

Joe Lynam takes a look at today's business markets with Aidan Donnelly from Davys.

The tax man collected a record €128bn last year buoyed by very robust income tax and continued strong corporation tax.  Even more heartening for the government who will spend this money on our behalf, the revenue commissioners say compliance is up to 98%.  But there have been complaints about the new real time reporting for companies which places a huge red tape burden on smaller busines...

Revolut is less than 10 years old but has already hit the landmark of hiring more than 10,000 people. As the company continues to grow its workforce, Newstalk's Technology Correspondent, Jess Kelly takes a closer look at the origins of the FinTech startup and how it went from strength to strength. 

With the new Taoiseach came of course a minimum reshuffle and the junior minister in charge of financial services Jennifer Carroll MacNeil was moved on to the European brief.  In her place came Neale Richmond now Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for Financial Services, Credit Unions and Insurance and this morning he joined Joe on the show to tell us w...

   Dell has been in Ireland for almost 40 years. They continue to have a huge presence here in Dublin, Cork, Belfast and Limerick- focusing a lot more on cloud computing than making PC desktops. They also have been looking into whether their clients are ready for AI and the sweeping changes that will come with it. Catherine Doyle Managing Director for Dell Technologies Ireland joined Joe...

A look at today's business news stories with Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam.