Breakfast Business with Joe Lynam

Oil spiked last summer at around $123 per barrel after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its attempt to use energy as an economic weapon. It’s since fallen back quite a bit and stood at $75 last month. Now the plates are back up in the air after the OPEC+ cartel said it would slash oil production by 1 million barrels per day in order to push up prices. Robert Maxwell - Oil analyst joined Joe this m...

A run-through of some of the business stories today with Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Although Europe has few global technology companies, innovation abounds here. In fact, the number of patent protections filed in the EU was up last year - despite an oil and inflation shock. Worryingly though it was mostly Chinese and American companies that filed for patents here in Europe with Germany being the biggest country for patents in Europe. Aidan Kendrick, Chief Business Analyst at the...

Last week Elon Musk warned that we might be sleepwalking into a world of artificial intelligence where much human thinking will be removed and made by software or computers. It painted a dystopian future, not unlike the Terminator movies. But was it overdone and hysterical or a pen portrait of the future? Alan Holland, CEO & Founder of Keelvar joined Joe Lynam on the show this morning.

Joe Lynam takes a look at some of the business stories in today's business newspapers and websites.

A few weeks ago, this programme highlighted the fact that some insurance companies in Ireland were refusing to provide life cover to some cancer survivors but also to those dealing with mental health and weight problems. The issue has prompted a rethink by the insurance industry at least towards cancer victims, and I’m glad to say that I’m joined by Moyagh Murdock who is the chief executive of Ins...

This time last year, the housing market in Ireland was red-hot with prices rising year-on-year well into the teens. But according to the latest myhome.ie survey asking prices have fallen for three consecutive quarters. On top of that houses are being sold for just one percent above asking price versus 6% this time last year. Are we looking at the start of a notable correction or is this just the m...

Joe Lynam takes a look at some of the stories in today's business newspapers.

It’s the last Friday of the month and that means we have a winner of the Newstalk Business Person Of The Month. Our winner has been in the beauty business for more than a decade and established her bestselling makeup kit just before lockdowns. Within a year she was selling into Walmart and thousands of American supermarkets and then supply chain issues created major problems, but she overcame them...

For many years smaller companies have long complained that the public procurement process for big government contracts has been loaded in favour of much larger businesses with the bidding manpower. Now a consultation from the Govt launched this week aims to tilt that balance back toward SMEs. Speaking to Joe this morning Ross McCarthy Managing Director, Keystone Procurement and ISME National Counc...

We take an in-depth look at the markets with Aiden Donnelly from Davys.

Soon job adverts must publish the salary ranges when looking for new staff. That could be a boon for women who even today still get paid less than men in some sectors. In reaction to this Joe spoke to Geraldine King, CEO of the Employment and Recruitment Federation.

Do you know your APR or your SVR or your tracker or your ebitda? We are supposed to know these things and increasingly so are consumers as they buy financial products online without specific advice. Irish people lag behind their European peers when it comes to financing knowledge. Dawn Bailey, Head of Financial Wellbeing, Bank of Ireland joined Joe this morning and told us how Bank of Ireland can...

A run-through of some of the business stories today with Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Inflation will remain higher for longer but domestic demand will remain robust this year. They are just 2 of the findings in the latest quarterly estimates from the respected think tank - the ESRI. Speaking to Joe this morning was Conor O’Toole Associate Research Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute.

 After a shock to the system among small companies last Autumn as energy prices soared, optimism has returned to the SME sector. That’s according to the latest Linked Finance SME Confidence Index which recorded a reading of 60. Anything above 50 denotes growth. Niall O’Grady, CEO of the peer-to-peer lending platform Linked Finance spoke to Joe this morning with this reaction to these findings.

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

It’s been more than a year since the toughest and most unified sanctions ever were applied to Russia by the EU and Nato sanctions that have also impacted European business. The Russians say that their economy has been barely unaffected, while the EU says they are having a devastating impact. Who is correct? Ian Bond is a former British diplomat in Moscow, and is now the director of foreign policy...

It’s been a fortnight of turmoil for banks around the world. Four of them have collapsed or been swallowed up by a rival bank and there are now worries that those that remain might rein in their lending to companies and consumers. Some even fear we might be back to where we were in 2008. Speaking to Joe this morning on Business Breakfast was Brian Hayes the Chief Executive of the Banking and Payme...

A run-through of some of the business stories today with Business Editor Joe Lynam.

The technology sector has been rocked by wave after wave of job cuts - having hired too many people during lockdowns. So what is the mood out there among tech entrepreneurs in Ireland and how will they get funding amid rising interest rates and a more cautious market? They are among the themes which will doubtless be discussed at the Deeptech fest which starts in Cork today and Eshna Gogia the Pro...

For many of us, our eyes glaze over when it comes to our pension - even if it’s gonna be quite a few years before we draw it down. The same could be said for healthcare benefits from your employer. Many don't know how we can access them and don't even use their services. This is where the Irish start-up Yonder comes in. It is a new platform to enable employees to make changes to their pension savi...

A run-through of the main business stories today with Joe Lynam.

March has been one helluva month for Ireland and Irishness. We had St Patrick's Day, a record number of people in employment, soaring DP, a slew of winners at Cheltenham, winning a Grand slam and we even had the Guaranteed Irish awards. Not bad for a small nation. Joining Joe this morning was Brid O’Connell the Chief executive of Guaranteed Irish.

The regular consumer sentiment survey is out from the Credit Union. The good news is consumers are more confident than pessimistic and certainly in a better mood than last Autumn. But confidence has slipped slightly since last month. Austin Hughes is the compiler of the Credit Union consumer sentiment survey and joined Joe this morning.