Inside Business with Ciaran Hancock

The OECD’s efforts to frame a global tax for multi-nationals that will satisfy the demands of the 134 countries involved in the long-running process was discussed at the PwC-Irish Times Tax Summit earlier this week. Cliff Taylor and Eoin Burke-Kennedy join Ciarán to dissect comments made at the summit by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Pascal Saint-Amans, director at the Centre for Tax Po...

It emerged last weekend that RTÉ sought a €55 million annual funding boost from the State, which it never got. Staff at the broadcaster have been warned that the organisation cannot continue as it is without a significant increase in state funding. That's unlikely to materialise in the upcoming budget. So, what now? Does the solution lie in a doubling of the licence fee, cutting staff, or selling...

The new governor of the Irish Central Bank, Gabriel Makhlouf, settled into the role this week, telling staff that he will be in listening mode over the coming months. Joe Brennan outlines what he’ll have found waiting in his in-tray on his first day, including a key ECB governing council meeting on September 12th that will consider whether to ease rates or launch a new bond-buying programme – or b...

Two sets of figures were released by the CSO this week. One shows a return to net emigration in Ireland: more people departed the country than arrived in the year to April. Another set, the latest Labour Force Survey, reveals 2.3 million people are now employed in the state, the highest ever figure. What lies behind the figures? Dominic Coyle asks Eoin Burke Kennedy. And Fiona Reddan has a story o...

Earlier this week Irish Times columnist Chris Johns wrote about why a hard Brexit on October 31st will be the beginning, rather than the end, of a chaotic phase in Britain’s history and that the country is facing a future as a failed state. He talks to Ciarán about why that is and why he believes that Boris Johnson’s decision to back Dominic Cummings as his senior adviser will come back to haunt h...

Vodafone got out of the traps first this week announcing the beginning of its roll-out of 5G internet. So, how much will it cost? And, what will it mean for Irish businesses and consumers? Ciarán talks to Professor Ronan Farrell of Maynooth University, which launched a 5G test centre earlier this year, and Irish Times business reporter Charlie Taylor. Plus: Laura Slattery has a roundup of some of...

Harland & Wolff is officially in the hands of administrators. The legendary Belfast shipyard, once the world's largest, is now a symbol of the decline of British manufacturing and heavy industry. That decline is a subject that our guest today, Eamonn Fingleton, has written and reported on for decades. We're also joined by our reporter Francess McDonnell who has the latest on negotiations to keep t...

Looming international tax changes will be a big setback for Ireland's relationship with multinationals. But how great is the danger? And, how can we adapt to these changes, while continuing to attract foreign direct investment and develop other parts of the economy? To discuss how this might play out, Cliff Taylor is joined by chief economist at Ibec Gerard Brady and Martina Lawless, associate res...

Earlier this week minister of state at the Department of Finance Michael D'Arcy told The Financial Times that banking pay restrictions should remain in place - in spite of pressure from the banking industry to loosen them. AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB are currently subject to a €500,000 salary cap, while a punitive 89% tax rate applies to any bonuses paid. Should the restrictions stay or...

With the publication this week of the final report on Irish banks's practice over several years of denying customers their rightful tracker mortgage rates, Ciarán talks about the scandal with Brendan Burgess of consumer forum askaboutmoney.com and The Irish Times markets correspondent Joe Brennan. Have the banks really changed? And Peter Hamilton has all the latest business news, including the Iri...

On today's podcast Ciarán Hancock talks to David Hall, the mortgage debtor advocate, who expects 20,000 homes to be repossessed by banks or so-called vulture funds over the next six years. Mr Hall was a co-founder of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organisation, a not-for-profit body set up post the 2008 financial crash to help those in mortgage arrears to restructure their loans and remain in their ho...

Property price growth has slowed to its lowest level in five years, according to a report from Davy and property website myhome.ie. The study also suggests asking prices in Dublin, the most volatile segment of the market, are now falling for the first time since 2013.Eoin Burke-Kennedy of The Irish Times and Conall Mac Coille, chief economist at Davy, talk to Ciarán about what's behind the housing...

Olympic Federation of Ireland President and Swim Ireland CEO Sarah Keane is among Ireland's top sports administrators. She talks to Ciaran and Michael O'Keeffe of Teneo PSG about her background in sport and law, what is involved in her various roles, the growth of female sport and the fallout for the Olympic movement in Ireland from the arrest of former president Pat Hickey at the Rio games in 201...

Are we building the wrong houses in the wrong places at the wrong prices? Sherry Fitzgerald chief economist Marian Finnegan and Orla Hegarty, architect and assistant professor at UCD’s School of Architecture, join presenter Cliff Taylor to discuss some troubling trends in the housing sector. Also in this podcast – Irish Times business reporter Fiona Reddan on why Credit Unions across the country a...

In its latest report the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has described the Government’s medium-term spending plans as “not credible”. The watchdog says there is an over-reliance on corporation tax receipts to cover ‘unplanned’ increases in spending, such as in health. In today’s podcast the chairman of IFAC, Seamus Coffey, explains why the council is so concerned about government spending, why the o...

When it comes to supporting a culture of entrepreneurship, how does Ireland stack up against the global competition? Avolon CEO Dómhnal Slattery set out to find out, and he has compiled his findings in a report titled "Project i". He talks to Ciarán about what's in the report, where Ireland falls short for its start-ups and the role of state agencies like Enterprise Ireland. He also talks about ai...

Can we build a low-carbon economy in Ireland? On Monday business group Ibec launched its €40 billion blueprint, or greenprint, with proposals including increased forest cover, cutting emissions and raising carbon taxes. But is it ambitious enough? To discuss Ciarán is joined by Ibec CEO Danny McCoy, newly-elected Green Party councillor Hazel Chu and Cliff Taylor. But first Peter Hamilton has all t...

Last week the high-end Dublin restaurant Luna closed after four years in business and just days after winning the Restaurant Association of Ireland’s best customer service award. The closure prompted some of the city’s leading restaurateurs to express concern about how development in the city is being managed, with accusations that things have got out of hand. Are there too many restaurants in Dub...

The European Commission has opened a formal investigation into whether Insurance Ireland is operating a cartel by restricting access to a claims database, almost two years after it raided the body as part of an inquiry into a number of issues in the sector. Conor Faughnan of AA Ireland and Irish Times markets correspondent Joe Brennan join Ciarán to discuss how the investigation could play out. La...

Eoin Burke-Kennedy on the ins and outs of the National Broadband Plan. Is the €3-billion project a misguided expense or a vital infrastructure that must go ahead? Fiona Reddan on Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley's purchase of House of Fraser and how department stores are coping in the era of online shopping. Plus: Peter Hamilton with a roundup of the other stories making the news this week, includi...

Trinity College Dublin is our most prestigious university but the institution has struggled to remain globally competitive. Government funding per third level student has declined steeply since the crash, and Trinity has fallen down the international rankings. So for today's podcast Ciarán Hancock visits the Trinity campus to find out what is being done to replace that lost income and maintain the...

STATSports head of marketing Ian Forrester joins Ciarán and Irish Times business journalist Charlie Taylor to discuss the Newry-based sports tech company's new funding round recently, which saw seven-figure investments by Premier League footballers Raheem Sterling and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Later: Cliff Taylor on the implications of pressure from public sector unions to end the two-tier pay stru...

Economists Megan Greene and Austin Hughes on the prospect of a global slowdown in economic growth, what should be done about it and how it might impact on Europe. Jack Horgan-Jones has the latest on the FAI, after auditors Deloitte filed a notice to the Companies Registration Office on Monday over breaches of the Companies Acts on the grounds that accounts were not kept properly. What happens now?...

Jack-Horgan Jones on the impact of institutional landlords on the property market. Simon Carswell on why we may never see a report on the collapse of Sean FitzPatrick's trial. Plus regional airports, Debenhams and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colm Keena on the strange saga of the Quinn business family. The State's long battle to recover debts the Quinns owe to the IBRC, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, ended this week with a settlement reached with former billionaire Sean Quinn's adult children. But much of whatever money is eventually recovered will go to the lawyers. Was it worth the effort? Plus, Laura Slattery has the best business news...