Irish consumer sentiment at a fifteen year high


New data suggests that Irish consumer sentiment climbed to a fifteen year high in January as increasing optimism about household finances more than outweighed a slightly more cautious view of Irish economic prospects. This is according to KBC Bank Ireland/ESRI Consumer Sentiment Index for January 2016 which was released yesterday. The index rose to 108.6 […]

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Growth of Irish consumer spending accelerates at start of 2016


The latest Visa Europe Irish Consumer Spending Index has been released today. It shows there was no slowdown in consumer expenditure in January after a year-on-year increase of +7.2% was recorded during the month across all payment methods. This was faster than the increase of +6.5% seen in December and the second-sharpest expansion since the […]

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Numbers on Live Register down 10.3% in year to January


The number of people signing on the Live Register fell by 1.5 per cent last month and was down by 10.3 per cent on an annual basis, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The data show there were 4,800 fewer people on the register in January, reducing the overall total to […]

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Ireland’s economy will continue to grow at the fastest rate in the EU this year


Ireland’s economy will continue to grow at the fastest rate in the EU this year, a performance that the bloc’s economics chief has called “brilliant and balanced”. According to economic forecasts released yesterday by the European Commission, Ireland’s economy will expand by 4.5pc this year, more than twice the EU average. The strong performance is […]

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Almost a third of company owners are unsure of who to vote for in general election


BDO have today released findings from their quarterly poll of business leaders regarding election concerns. The BDO Optimism index is a quarterly survey of 350 Irish Businesses. It has been conducted every quarter for over six years by leading market researchers Behaviour and Attitudes. Respondents are all Business owners, CEO’s or leading Managers within the […]

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January growth in services industry highest in ten years


The country’s services sector grew at its fastest pace in almost a decade last month as new business in Europe’s fastest growing economy expanded strongly, a survey showed today. The Investec purchasing managers’ index (PMI) of activity in services, which covers businesses from banks to hotels, rose to 64 in January from December’s 61.8. This […]

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New changes to the Credit Guarantee Bill could help SMEs


The passing of all stages of the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2015 officially took place yesterday. The bill has now been sent to President Higgins to be signed into law this week. The Government claims the Credit Guarantee Scheme will help viable businesses which have been refused conventional bank credit facilities access a state-backed guarantee. […]

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Irish businesses will face huge EU fines in the event of a data breach


Irish businesses will be obliged to pay more attention to their data protection procedures in future in order to avoid facing huge EU fines in the event of a data breach. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is expected to be approved by the EU parliament in the coming days, is aimed at developing a […]

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