Irish Times Inside Business

The government's latest package of cost of living measures includes extra cash payments to social welfare recipients and parents - but no further contributions to our energy bill payments. Does the package go far enough? And by extending - again - a more favourable VAT rate for the hospitality sector, the Government is foregoing tax revenues of €300 million. Why does the return of the rate keep ge...

Chupi Sweetman is the Irish jewellery designer on a mission to disrupt the diamond industry. The founder and CEO of her eponymous brand has just secured €3.75m in investment to fuel her global ambitions. She speaks about industry trends, removing Russian diamonds from her supply chain and how blockchain will help secure the provenance of her heirloom jewellery. Also in this episode, Barry O'Hallor...

Barry Connolly, the man who brought Red Bull and Kopparberg cider to Ireland has just been named the Irish Times Business Person of the Year. After graduating from UCD with a degree in business, the Dubliner went on to work in advertising and sales at the Sunday Tribune, before moving into the world of entrepreneurship, where he worked alongside a number of successful brands. In 2016, he launched...

Brendan Burgess joins the podcast to explain his critique of Central Bank policy on mortgage interest rates. It comes after Central Bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf told an Oireachtas committee that Irish banks should increase interest rates to reflect increases applied by the European Central Bank. Plus: Cliff Taylor and Eoin Burke-Kennedy look at the latest economic trends. Hosted on Acast. See ac...

An increase in office stock, the switch to hybrid working, as well as job losses in the tech sector have contributed to a slowdown in the Dublin commercial real estate market, according to industry expert, John Moran. The CEO of JLL joins Ciaran Hancock to discuss the 13% office vacancy rate driven partly by the increase in 'grey space.' The term is used to describe what is available for sub-leasi...

Climate change is one of the themes of this year’s World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Markets Correspondent, Joe Brennan, reports from Davos where a recent winter heatwave means the highest town in Europe has significantly less snowfall than usual. The Taoiseach, Finance Minister and a delegation from the IDA are there as part of Ireland’s attempt to court FDI. All three parties are awaiting new...

This week we got a look at two reports into economic activity in Ireland, one from Enterprise Ireland and the other from Bord Bia. Eoin Burke Kennedy explains what we learned about the performance of homegrown businesses and within the growing food sector. But first, Joe Brennan explains what the arrival of a new insurer, the South African company OUTsurance, into the Irish car insurance market me...

What will 2023 have in store for the economy, the media landscape and the tech sector?  Ciarán Hancock is joined by Irish Times business journalists Eoin Burke-Kennedy, Ciara O’Brien and Laura Slattery. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022: It was a year of soaring inflation, bumper corporation tax and the cost of living crisis. In the first of two episodes looking back on the biggest business stories of the year, Ciarán Hancock is joined by Irish Times journalists Cliff Taylor and Joe Brennan. The panel discuss the knock on effect of rising interest rates, the 12 billion surplus in November and what the new year may have in st...

CEO of An Post David McRedmond joins Ciaran Hancock to discuss the ongoing row between An Post and the UK’s Post Office over the implementation of post-Brexit customs rules, which is resulting in thousands of online purchases being returned to British retailers.  Later on, we hear from two Dublin city centre business owners, Stephen Kennedy of Copper+Straw cafe and Sean Crescenzi of Happy End...

Irish Times Current Affairs Editor Arthur Beesley joins Ciarán Hancock to discuss the recent spike in applications by wealthy Chinese citizens to the Immigrant Investor Programme. The scheme allows applicants, with a minimum net worth of €2 million, to obtain residency in the State, if they invest in the Irish economy.  With the number of applications almost tripling in the first nine mo...

After Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe's surprise move to ease restrictions on pay and bonuses in the banking sector, we look at what it might mean for the three domestic banks and their international competitors. Markets Correspondent, Joe Brennan, also takes us through the rest of the headline-grabbing details in the 220 page Retail Banking Review. Ciaran is also joined by the Irish Times' Karli...

The need is well above the government's policy targets and we're obsessed with married people who are just about to have children, according to the author of he latest Daft.ie report, economist Ronan Lyons. The latest figures show another quarter of extreme shortages in rental supply. Economics Correspondent, Eoin Burke Kennedy, also joins Ciaran to take a deep dive into the report. We also delve...

On the podcast this week?: Ciara O'Brien on the troubles swirling around Twitter under the leadership of Elon Musk. The company this week met with the Irish Data Protection Commission to discuss concerns about upheaval at the company and how it could impact the safety of users and their data. Joe Brennan on the news that car insurers had a bumper year in 2021, enjoying the highest profits since 20...

The job losses announced by Meta and Stripe may provide an indication of layoffs across the tech sector. Inside Business is analysing the impact of the redundancies, announced over the past week, across the wider Irish economy. After enjoying bumper profits and a surge in recruitment during the pandemic, interest rate rises and the cost of living crisis have finally caught up with the tech giants....

The Government is facing a potential threat to some of its corporation tax revenues because people who worked remotely from abroad for Irish-based firms during the pandemic are refusing to return to the State because of the housing crisis, senior business figures have warned. Arthur Beesley reports. Pubs will be allowed to remain open until 12.30am seven days a week, while nightclubs will be allow...

Calm was finally restored within the UK markets this week, as Rishi Sunak took up his post as the new British Prime Minister. Aidan Donnelly, Associate Director at Davy Global Fund Management explains why the recent political chaos led to a market meltdown and why Sunak’s appointment has steadied the ship.  Later on, Ciaran Hancock is joined by Graham Clarke, CEO of Kylemore Cars, Irelan...

Growing up in Youghal, Co Cork, Sean O’Driscoll first “caught the bug” for the hospitality industry, while working behind the bar in his local hotel. From there, he went on to study Hotel Management in Galway, with a stint in Switzerland to gain further experience. He has worked in many venues across Ireland and has spent 13 years as a hotel general manager, before finally taking up a group role i...

All over the country, restaurants are being forced to close their doors, unable to function in the current economic climate. Fears are growing that closures within the industry could reach one per day, levels last seen during the recession in 2012. With energy costs continuing to rise and Covid-era supports due to end early next year, the worst may be yet to come. In today’s episode, chef and rest...

Although sterling has rallied since the British government’s mini-budget announcement, the bond market remains disturbed.    All eyes are now turning to the ECB and how it will react to the turbulence. The effect on interest rates will play out in the coming weeks, but could they peak sooner than expected?    To discuss the impact of the mini-budget on the global economy, Ciara...

Ciaran Hancock is joined by guests to analyse Budget 2023. On the panel: Cliff Taylor, Managing Editor, The Irish Times Sven Spollen-Behrens, Director, Small Firms Association Kevin McLoughlin, Head of Tax and Law, EY Ireland Jennifer Bray, Political Correspondent, The Irish Times Inside Business is produced in association with EY Ireland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor...

In part one of today's podcast, Jack Horgan-Jones and Cliff Taylor discuss next week's budget when the government is expected to deliver a huge package of relief for households as well as the usual adjustments to taxes and new fiscal initiatives. In part two: Once again, the tourism sector will be hoping for an extension to the 9% VAT rate that was brought in to help businesses survive the pandemi...

A new employment survey by ManpowerGroup has shown that hiring intentions in Ireland’s tech sector have fallen dramatically.  Rising interest rates, previous high volume hiring campaigns and an early post pandemic recovery have knocked confidence in the sector. So is this just a temporary blip or a sign of something more serious? John Galvin, managing director of ManpowerGroup and Una Fitzpat...

As a result of Europe’s ongoing energy crisis, Irish businesses are experiencing rising costs across the board. In this episode, Cliff Taylor speaks to Tony Walker, general manager of the Slieve Russell hotel and golf resort in Co Cavan about how his hotel is dealing with runaway energy bills and increasing supplier costs. We also hear from Business Affairs Correspondent Mark Paul who explains wha...

Businesses are worried they’ll be forced to frontload high energy payments to finance temporary electricity generation this winter.  Large energy users will also be the first firms forced to cut their energy demand if the national grid comes under unsustainable pressure.  Cliff Taylor speaks to Ibec’s chief economist, Ger Brady, about the implications for the sector and the economy as a...