Archive for October 2023

Irish households are being urged to begin a collective clear-out of small electronic waste this weekend, after a United Nations study showed Irish consumers generated 11 million kilos of electronic waste last year. This is equivalent to 25 million items containing precious and valuable metals. Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Ireland says this equates to…

The latest progress report on the First Home Scheme shows that 2,598 buyers have been approved and 699 homes already bought using the scheme since it was launched in July 2022. The First Home Scheme was a €400m fund set up to help first-time buyers to bridge the gap between their mortgage, deposit and the…

The annual rate of inflation rose again in September to 6.4% compared to an annual rate of 6.3% in August, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show today. The main drivers of inflation last month were increases in mortgage interest payments, clothing and footwear and home heating oil. Mortgage interest payments rose by 6.3%…

Online and mobile banking payments are continuing to grow in the country while usage of cheques has dropped to the lowest level since 2008. That is according to latest figures from the payments monitor of Banking & Payments Federation Ireland. It finds online and mobile banking payments have jumped 60% since 2018, while the use…

The Economic and Social Research Institute has said Tuesday’s Budget was “progressive”, meaning lower income groups will benefit proportionately more than higher income groups. However, the ESRI says the reduction in the At Risk Of Poverty (AROP) rate amongst most groups will only be achieved through the once-off measures contained in the Budget. It points…

The rate of inflation in the used car market was 3.3% in the period from July to the end of September, up from 0.9% in the previous quarter. The DoneDeal Car Price Index shows the annual rate of car price inflation is now at its lowest level since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when…

The number of insurance and reinsurance businesses based in Ireland has fallen 39% since 2009, a new study has found. Life companies have dropped by 42% over the period and non-life firms by 29%, while the volume of re-insurers has decreased by 47%. On top of that the largest international non-life companies and one of…

The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin has announced details of the €1.17 billion in funding allocated to the department in Budget 2024. Measures include a €1.9m pilot initiative to support regional arts infrastructure to meet their building and equipment needs, increased funding for national sporting organisations and for high-performance…

Ireland will revise how it calculates its levy on banks after announcing plans to raise €200m from the measure next year, up from €87m in 2023, Finance Minister Michael McGrath said today. The levy previously raised a flat €150m a year after its introduction following the banking crisis a decade ago. But that fell last…