Posts by splash

64% of Irish SMEs were unaffected by crime in the past 12 months, according to new research by ISME. Of the 36% which did experience crime, 68% were targeted more than once. Anti-social behaviour, vandalism, burglary and phishing attacks were the most common offences. For businesses affected, the costs are considerable with 28% reporting increased…

US consumer prices increased moderately in July, though rising costs for goods because of import tariffs led to a measure of underlying inflation posting its largest gain in six months. The US consumer price index rose 0.2% last month after gaining 0.3% in June, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said today. In the…

What does ageism in the workplace look like? It can be hiring bias, stereotyping, early layoffs, forced retirement, microaggressions or exclusion. Sometimes it’s loud and visible; other times it’s subtle and silent. Unlike many other forms of workplace discrimination, ageism often remains invisible and undiscussed, yet it profoundly affects the lives, careers, and mental well-being…

Australia’s central bank cut its key interest rate to its lowest in two years today, but warned global challenges continue to cause uncertainty. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.6%, citing steady progress in bringing inflation down. “Uncertainty in the world economy remains elevated,” the bank’s monetary…

The latest doddl.ie Mortgage Switching Index suggests that thousands of mortgage holders on variable rates could be paying over 2.25 percentage points more than necessary. Doddl.ie said that despite the return of sub-3% variable rates to the market, many borrowers remain on legacy variable products of up to 5.25%, adding that while fixed rates have…

Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, posted a 698 billion Norwegian crowns ($68.28 billion) profit for the first half of the year, lifted by strong returns among stocks in the financial industry, it said today. The fund’s overall return for the January-June period was 5.7%, which was 0.05 percentage point lower than…

Almost 12,000 home energy upgrades were carried out in the first three months of the year through Government funded grant schemes. This is up 2% on the number of upgrades carried out during the same period last year. New figures from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) reveal that Government expenditure across all schemes…

Irish consumers last year turned their back on €66.7m when they failed to cash in their deposits for drink containers through the Government’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). That is according to the 2024 annual report for Re-Turn which shows that the failure by consumers to redeem the €66m worth in deposits for their drink containers…

After months of negotiations, on again-off again tariffs, delayed implementation dates and threatened higher levies, Donald Trump’s 15% tariff on most imports from the EU to the US took effect at midnight on Thursday. It means many Irish products being exported to the US now face a tariff of 15% with, so far, very few…