Irish Times Inside Business

The Covid-19 pandemic that hit in March 2020 hammered the Irish hospitality and retail sectors.One company that was directly in the firing line was Moriarty’s a family run craft shop and restaurant in the Gap of Dunloe in Kerry that was largely dependent on American visitors for its business.The company survived this near-death experience by becoming one of the first SMEs in Ireland to use a new small company rescue process called Scarp, introduced by the Government at the end of 2021.Having wiped out substantial debts, Moriarty’s is once again thriving, and looking to expand its business beyond the Gap of Dunloe.Denis Pio Moriarty is a son of the founders and runs the business with other family members. He joined host Ciarán Hancock in studio to tell his company’s story of surviving the pandemic.He began by recalling Moriarty’s early days, from its opening in 1964 and its growth story up to when the pandemic hit in early 2020.Produced by John Casey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information

On this episode of Inside Business we look at the €725 million funding plan the Government has agreed to provide to RTÉ over the next three years. Laura Slattery of The Irish Times sat down with RTÉ chief Kevin Bakhurst last week and not surprisingly he was “really pleased” with the settlement. Laura joined host Ciarán Hancock in studio to explain how the settlement provides RTÉ with financial stability over the next three years.Also on the podcast this week, Revolut recently announced its intention to offer mortgages in the Irish market. But there has also been a growing number of complaints about the digital bank from customers who have had their accounts scammed and have run into a brick wall with Revolut in terms of getting the issue resolved. Brendan Burgess is a consumer advocate and runs the website Askaboutmoney.com, we began by asking him for his view on whether Revolut offering home loans would shake up an Irish mortgage market dominated by AIB and Bank of Ireland.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vern

This week industrial peace broke out at Aer Lingus when pilots at the airline voted in favour of a pay proposal brokered by the Labour Court, ending weeks of industrial action that disrupted about 86,000 passengers of Aer Lingus. Ryanair also warned of weaker trading and profitability as passengers put a limit on how much they are prepared to pay for a flight.Barry O’Halloran of The Irish Times and Davy equity analyst Stephen Furlong joined host Ciarán Hancock in studio to discuss those and other developments in the aviation sector this week.In the second part of this episode, Eoin Burke Kennedy, economics correspondent of The Irish Times, discusses the tax strategy papers released by the Department of Finance on Tuesday, which will help inform policy in October’s budget. They include proposals to introduce congestion charging for motorists and to require people to report inheritances and gifts to Revenue if it exceeds €3000 in value.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.c

This week the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, which represents the broad hospitality sector, made its pre-budget submission to Government. Among the asks, were a return to the 9 per cent VAT rate, more cash from the State to promote the industry and a lifting of the 32m passenger cap at Dublin Airport, the country’s main gateway for visitors. So, how is the hospitality sector in Ireland doing given it is peak tourism season and Covid is a distant memory?Host Ciarán Hancock is joined by an expert panel, with Eoghan O’Mara Walsh, chief executive of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, Paul Donnellan, Head Chef and Owner of Gemelle’s Restaurant in Galway, and Paul Gallagher, General Manager of Buswells Hotel in Dublin.Paul Donnellan explains why half of his restaurant in Galway city is currently mothballed, while Paul Gallagher outlines the financial hit to Buswells Hotel from recent Aer Lingus flight cancellations and the empty rooms it was left with on the first night of Taylor Swift concerts in Dub

On Tuesday, the Government published its Summer Economic Statement, which provides a framework for tax and spending in October’s budget. We discovered that the budget will be framed around a massive tax and spending package of €8.3 billion. Strip out Covid and cost of living years, and that would make it one of the most generous in the history of the State.In turn, this has fuelled speculation of an early general election in November.On this week’s episode of Inside Business, Eoin Burke-Kennedy and Cliff Taylor join Ciarán Hancock to go through the headline numbers in the statement and how the €8.3 billion breaks down.In the second half, we hear from Martin Muller, professor of geography and sustainability at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. He’s been crunching the numbers on the costs and payback for host cities for big events such as the Olympic Games, and following many years of preparation, billions spent on facilities and new infrastructure and the promise of an economic bounty,

This week we are focusing on mortgages and housing supply. Host Ciarán Hancock is joined by an expert panel comprising Irish Times finance correspondent Joe Brennan, economics correspondent Eoin Burke-Kennedy and Home & Design Editor Fiona Reddan. Fiona Reddan profiles the typical Irish house buyer in the market. How old are they? Where are they buying? What kind of salary are they earning and how big a part does the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ play?Eoin Burke-Kennedy explains why there are so many differing views in the market as to how many houses we need to build to meet annual demand. Will 50,000 suffice, or should it be as high as 85,000?And Joe Brennan discusses plans by digital bank Revolut to offer mortgages in the Irish market from next year. A move that should make AIB and Bank of Ireland sit up and take notice.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s episode of Inside Business we start with Jack Chambers’ appointment as the new Minister for Finance following Michael McGrath’s nomination by the Government as Ireland’s next European Commissioner.So, who is Jack Chambers and why has he been given such a plum role in Cabinet? Irish Times Political Editor, Pat Leahy, charts the rise and rise of someone many are tipping as Micheál Martin's heir apparent to lead Fianna Fáil. Also on the podcast: aggression against workers in the Irish retail sector has been on the rise, prompting employers’ group Ibec to draft a toolkit to help businesses address this growing problem.Nicola Harkin is head of employment law services at Ibec and she joined Ciaran Hancock to explain the reasons behind this surge in aggression and how its new toolkit might help.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s episode of Inside Business, we begin with Aer Lingus, after pilots at the airline voted again on Monday to pursue industrial action over a long-running pay dispute with the company. On Tuesday, the pilots’ union Ialpa announced a work-to-rule that will begin on June 26th and run for an indefinite period. Barry O’Halloran of The Irish Times has been covering the various twists and turns in this pay dispute for many months now and he explained what impact a work-to-rule would have on Aer Lingus’s schedule. And what could this dispute mean for customers planning costly holidays this summer? Tune in to hear Conor Pope explain what protections are in place for those booking independently or through a travel agent.Also on this week’s podcast, we hear from Irish Times London Correspondent Mark Paul who has been on the campaign trail around the UK with the Tories and Labour.Data from the Bank of England suggested inflation had returned to its 2 per cent target, which should be good news for the Conserv

On this week’s episode of Inside Business, host Ciarán Hancock is joined by Irish Times economics correspondent Eoin Burke-Kennedy to discuss the three global mega-trends that he believes stoked the Irish housing crisis and what, if anything, can be done about it. Are government supports such as the Help to Buy Scheme pushing up house prices? Will families ever be able to compete with financial institutions for properties that come to market? And should the Government employ drastic measures to increase affordability? Listen to this week’s Inside Business to find out.Plus, why is the minimum threshold for new building inspections so low here? Head of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, Kevin Hollingsworth, feels Ireland’s enforcement of building regulations is totally inadequate and needs to be significantly ramped up if we are to avoid a repeat of issues such as defective Celtic Tiger-era apartments or homes affected by mica and pyrite. Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on A

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council’s latest report has reiterated their stance that government spending plans risk overheating an economy already at full capacity. Is their plea for caution correct given the corporation tax receipt bonanza that shows little sign of abating in the short-term?Niall Conroy is chief economist with IFAC and he joined host Cliff Taylor on this episode of Inside Business to air the council’s concerns.Plus, there is likely to be a rise in workplace audits after Revenue state commissioned freelance work will ‘generally’ indicate person should be treated as an employee. So, how do you know if you are a freelancer or a company employee? Irish Times journalist Laura Slattery and head of employment law at Addleshaw Goddard, Maura Connolly give some insight into Revenue’s guidance on the issue.#Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

According to Conor Pope, Irish holidaymakers have been playing a game of chicken with airlines in recent weeks and – for once – it seems that the holiday makers are winning. With June on the horizon airlines have seats to sell with plenty of capacity at many accommodation options for the peak months.Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary recently said air fares had not increased at the anticipated pace, with peak prices more likely to rise by “zero to 5 per cent” rather than the “5 to 10 per cent” the carrier had expected. Conor joins Ciarán Hancock in studio to discuss that story, along with tips on how to get value when travelling abroad this summer. Also on this week’s episode of Inside Business, Fiona Reddan of The Irish Times explains Revenue rules around parents giving gifts and payments to their children. Can you pay for your son or daughter’s wedding? Can you gift them their honeymoon? What about buying an apartment for them to live in while they go to college? Produced

Last weekend, Tony O’Reilly, one of Ireland’s leading businessmen, died at the age of 88 after a short illness. He had a hugely successful career both on the rugby pitch, as a star with Ireland and the Lions, and in the boardroom where he founded the Kerrygold butter brand, ran the Heinz food group in Pittsburgh for decades, and had a portfolio of personal interests ranging from Independent Newspapers to oil explorer Providence Resources.He was also the co-founder of the Ireland Funds charity which has provided millions of euros in funding for projects on both sides of the border for the guts of 50 years.His business career ultimately ended in failure after bankruptcy in 2015. So, how should we view his career, and ultimately, what will his legacy be?To debate this, host Ciarán Hancock was joined by Irish Times columnist Fintan O’Toole and Rory Godson, the founder and managing director of communications advisory group Powerscourt - Rory wrote about Tony O’Reilly as a journalist and later worked for him as an

Some 18,000 housing commencements were recorded in April. It’s a huge number and well up on the normal run rate. What was behind that spike? And do we have enough construction workers to build these homes and get to the magic 50,000 new homes a year target that we’re told we need to hit in order to meet demand? On this week’s episode of Inside Business, host Ciarán Hancock is joined on the line by director general of the Construction Industry Federation Hubert Fitzpatrick to discuss these issues. Also on the podcast, this week saw Intel’s huge manufacturing campus in Leixlip, Co Kildare make global headlines with reports of an €11 billion refinancing and the possibility of investment in a new plant there. Local TD James Lawless of Fianna Fail joined us in studio to go through the details.  Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of the Inside Business podcast looks at Ireland's commercial and residential property markets. In part one John McCartney, Director of Research at BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland, discusses a significant surge in Dublin's office vacancies and the factors affecting office space demand, including the global economic downturn, a tech sector slowdown, and shifts in workspace needs post-COVID. In part two economics columnist Cliff Taylor looks at Sinn Féin's criticism of first-time buyer support schemes and the State's spending on measures to help people find homes. The episode also explores the potential for repurposing vacant office spaces into housing and the challenges associated with these conversions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we take a deep dive into the issues impacting tech giant Apple. In the year to date, the iPhone maker's share price has fallen by more than 8 per cent, and about €300 billion has been wiped off its market value. Apple has ceded to Microsoft its status as the most valuable US company. This drop was spurred by declining sales in China, regulatory scrutiny of its app store, and mounting concerns that the company has lost its edge on innovation, especially in the field of AI. But is Apple's recent decline likely to continue in the longer term? Business Editor Ciaran Hancock gets a range of perspectives. Guests: Geoff Blaber, CEO of CCS Insight, Denis Staunton, Irish Times China correspondent, Karlin Lillington, Irish Times technology columnist and Ciara O'Brien, Irish Times business and technology journalist. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s Inside Business with Ciarán Hancock we look at Aviva’s plan to re-enter the Irish health insurance market and what that might mean for consumers. Will this deliver lower prices for hard pressed Irish consumers? Will it bring additional benefits in coverage? And is worth the hassle to switch for customers of VHI, Laya and Irish Life Health? To get some answers to these questions and more, Ciarán is joined on the podcast by Dermot Goode of Totalcover.ie, a Locktons Company, and an expert on Irish health insurance. Also on the podcast, the Government published its Stability Programme Update. This is an update of budgetary forecasts provided to the European Union. It predicts a surplus for this year of €8.6 billion and a warning that the economy has slowed.Cliff Taylor of The Irish Times has been through the document to break down the vast array of numbers and what they mean. How much of the budget surplus might be used to fund tax cuts or additional spending on key public services, given

On this week’s episode of Inside Business, host Ciarán Hancock is joined in studio by aviation entrepreneur Ulick McEvaddy. With his brother Des, Ulick has established a successful aviation business over the past 40 years called Omega. He and Des also own a large parcel of land beside Dublin Airport. Along with two other landowners, it amounts to 260 acres and was put on the market for sale in the middle of last year. With no sale agreed, they subsequently submitted a concept plan to Fingal County Council to develop the site for a third passenger terminal at Dublin Airport, as part of a €2.2 billion development. He argues that for the same money as DAA is proposing to spend on its own expansion plan, his proposal would allow the airport to expand by an additional 20 million passengers while solving road access issues and providing a platform for Dublin to become a hub for sustainable aviation fuel. Crucially, however, he doesn’t have access to the runway, something that was an issue for bi

On this week’s episode of the Inside Business podcast, we look at the pension pots that auto enrolment could deliver for workers on an average wage. The State is planning to establish the scheme for workers who do not already have pension cover in their workplace. It has been much delayed but is moving forward and EY this week crunched the numbers to see what workers might get by way of a pension when they retire. Dominic Coyle of the Irish Times reported on EY’s figures and joined host Ciarán Hancock in studio to explain how exactly auto enrolment will work. Also on the podcast, the Minister for Finance Michael McGrath’s announced last week that he intended to set up two new funds to help meet the costs of running the State in the years ahead. Cliff Taylor of The Irish Times has been writing about this and joined Ciarán to outline what the funds would be used for and how much tax revenue would be set aside to fund them.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.

Figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry this week showed that electric car sales are in reverse, falling by 14 per cent year on year in March. This compared with double digit increases in the sales of petrol and hybrid car. Even diesel sales rose by 9 per cent. Meanwhile a survey by AA Ireland found that half of the 1000 respondents would not opt to buy an electric car. Why the hesitance to go electric? And what can be done to incentivise people to buy EVs? Irish Times motoring editor Michael McAleer joins host Ciarán Hancock in studio to explain why EV sales are going in the wrong direction. Also on this week’s episode of Inside Business, Irish Times economics correspondent Eoin Burke-Kennedy discusses the drop in Irish inflation for March, where it fell below 2 per cent for the first time in three years. Could this persuade the European Central Bank to begin cutting interest rates from June? And what might it mean for mortgage rates? Produced by John Casey with JJ Verno

In this episode of Inside Business host Ciarán Hancock is joined in studio by Chief executive and founder of Cubic Telecom, Barry Napier. In a wide-ranging interview, Barry discusses his formative years in Ireland and Chicago, his early career before joining Cubic more than 15 years ago and the key entrepreneurial lessons he has learned along the way. He also gives his thoughts on why Japanese telecoms giant SoftBank shelled out €473 million for a 51 per cent controlling stake in Cubic last year. Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.