Ever heard of the “bric markets”? No, they have nothing to do with the construction industry collapse or the building bubble. They are, in fact, the fast-growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China and according to the Sunday Times, the IDA is to focus on them for green-field investment in a new programme to be announced next month.
In order to sell Nama to its membership last year, the Green Party came up with a plan to establish an expert group that would help people struggling with personal or mortgage debt. The intention was that the group would issue recommendations on measures to assist people in debt arrears within a matter of months. The plan, which the Green leadership dubbed “My Nama”, was included in the revised Programme for Government and it looks as if it is now about to get the green light.
It’s not much fun being a tax man these days. Who to screw is a serious question. The fat-cat population is diminishing at rapid rate. The amount of tax collected from the country’s wealthiest individuals is now a third of what it was in 2007, when the Irish property market started to collapse.
Accountants, tax advisers and banks will be forced to whistle-blow on clients or potential clients involved in tax avoidance schemes under new plans being finalised by the Government. They will be automatically forced to inform the Revenue Commissioners of schemes that exploit tax loopholes and allow wealthy individuals to slash their tax bills.
The European Payment Services Directive took effect on 1 November 2009. It removes many of the risks associated with paying by direct debit.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has released a flurry of letters between himself and tanaiste Mary Coughlan that purport to chronicle how Government inaction ultimately cost Ireland 500 highly skilled jobs.
In the exchange last August published in The Sunday Independent, O’Leary claims that if Coughlan had been willing to act as mediator between Ryanair and the Dublin Airport Authority (which the airline refuses to have anything to do with), 500 aircraft maintenance jobs would have come to Dublin, instead of to Prestwick in Scotland.
What would you do if you find yourself in a business sector that is going down the pan? Get into one that isn’t, of course. Prominent estate agent Ken MacDonald and mortgage broker Frank Conway are about to launch a debt mediation service for troubled borrowers, The Sunday Business Post reports.
For an introductory fee of €495 and a flat fee of €45 a month Credecare, which is expected to advertise for staff this week, will act as an intermediary between creditors and debtors who find themselves in financial trouble.
The former Fine Gael TD and returning RTE journalist was ubiquitous in the Sunday papers, even though it has been almost a week since he announced his departure from politics.
Aside from the analysis of the fallout for the political system – a topic that every pundit seems to have a view on ad nauseum – there are a few attempts to try to report on the substance of George Economics.
It says much for the news values of the Irish media that a retail bank closure entailing 750 job losses and affecting tens of thousands of people across the country gains less exposure than the resignation of a backbench TD.
Still, there is a lot of coverage of the dramatic exit of Bank of Scotland (Ireland) in the business pages, where most commentators are happy to dance on the grave of their one-time hero.
Another day, another suspected case of overcharging. Following hard on last week’s admission by AIB it had overcharged 40,000 customers, ‘senior sources’ have told The Sunday Tribune the bank is facing at least one more suspected case.
“The Sunday Tribune has been told that the AIB auditors have uncovered at least one more overcharging case and that the Financial Regulator has been informed.”
Bank of Ireland is finalising plans to launch a €1bn-plus rights issue within six to eight weeks – the first time an Irish bank has tried to raise funding in global capital markets since the onset of the credit crunch, The Sunday Times says.
The transfer of the bank’s first batch of property loans to Nama and European Commission approval of its business plan will determine the timing of the rights issue.
If you want to keep more of your hard-earned dosh out of the taxman’s clutches then it’s time to go to the movies, advises Niall Brady in The Sunday Times.
The potential upside has increased since the government increased the threshold for investment in the film industry from €31,750 to €50,000, recognising its importance to job creation.
David McWilliams is about to take to the stage but he ain’t getting out of Dodge, The Sunday Times reports.
The foppy-haired economic commentator who coined such iconic Celtic Tiger characters as Breakfast Roll Man and Miss Pencil Skirt, is in talks with The Abbey Theatre about a stage play based on the boom and bust of the economy.
“It’s more of an event than a play,” one source told the newspaper. “It’s stand-up economics in the style of Garrison Keillor.”