Breakfast Business

A look at today's business papers and markets with Business Editor Joe Lynam.

20 years ago, the northern Irish economy had a productivity growth rate of roughly the same as the Republic of Ireland. Now in 2022, according to a new report from the ESRI, productivity in the south is 40% higher than that of our neighbours north of the border. It’s all part of the “shared island “initiative from the Taoiseach’s office. Adele Bergin from ESRI has written this initiative and joined Joe this morning on the show

At the start of this year, the property market in Ireland both in residential and commercial was booming. Sales were being agreed at up to 10% above asking prices in the residential market. We end the market on a different note with war in Europe and soaring inflation as well as rapidly rising interest rates. It could mean that 2023 could be a very different year for the property sector. John Moran – CEO of JLL Ireland

A look at today's business papers and markets with Business Editor Joe Lynam.

A cap on the amount of debt that Property investors can have and more capital may need to be set aside by the banks. Just 2 of the announcements made by the central bank in its latest financial stability review -were out yesterday. Joe spoke to the Governor of the Central bank of Ireland - Gabriel Makhlouf and began by asking him why he was raising the capital buffers for Irish banks if we are heading into a downturn, which could make it more challenging for them to lend?

Today is Black Friday. It’s the day that retailers hope to prise open your wallets and purses and make you spend money that you might otherwise have held off until closer to Christmas eve. But it’s also one where the risk of scams and fraud have grown immeasurably since Black Friday took root amongst Irish shoppers over the last decade. Mike Cowen Head of Strategy Insights and Experience with Mastercard spoke to Joe this morning on the show.

Joe takes a look at today's business papers and markets with Aidan Donnelly from Davys.

There has been a spate of surveys and business sentiment polls, and they all seem to suggest that Ireland will survive the worst of the looming economic downturn. It looks as if our foreign direct investment sector will have enough momentum to keep the country growing next year, and that won’t be the case in the UK or Germany. Speaking to Joe on this was Alastair Blair the Managing Director of Accenture IRL.

Enterprise Ireland is hosting its elevator pitches for Irish start-ups at Croke Park today. The idea is to encourage Irish intellectual property to remain in the country, but also move these university start-up companies to the next stage of funding and support. All of them will survive, of course, but it’s an important stage in the development of those companies – especially when they can’t or won’t get money from Ireland’s commercial banks. Deirdre Glenn director of commercialisation with Enterprise Ireland spoke to Joe this morning.

A look at today's business papers and websites with Joe Lynam.

It’s that time of year again. It’s the busiest time for retailers and possibly the most stressful time for consumers, but it’s also a busy time for scammers and fraudsters. There’s been new research into who are the victims of scams and fraud and it makes for surprising reading. Claire Cogan from Behaviour and Wise who has carried out some research into that spoke to Joe this morning.

Ever since the financial crisis, when Ireland’s entire banking system, collapsed and needed to be bailed out by taxpayers, the European Central bank, and the central bank of Ireland have insisted that all lenders set aside, huge quantities of capital to act as a risk buffer in case things go wrong again. The consultants Mazar have carried out a study of European banks and compared them, and Michael Tuohy Financial Services Audit Leader with Mazars joined Joe this morning with more details on the study.

A look at today's business papers and markets with Joe Lynam.

Tax credits for digital games were officially launched by Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, and Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media, Catherine Martin, yesterday. Vish Gain, Journalist with Silicon Republic explained what this involves.

Black Friday sales are underway in many shops around the country. Are they having a positive impact? To discuss Jonathan spoke to Duncan Graham of Retail Excellence Ireland.

This morning Jonathan Healy takes a look at some of the main business stories in this morning's newspapers.

One ice rink in Cork is using vegetable oil to provide all its energy needs. It could be a model for a lot more companies Speaking to Joe this morning was Orla O'Neill from Cool Running Events which powers outdoor events using renewable sources. 

Ireland is the 7th best country in Europe and the Middle East for private companies to set up and thrive. Some firms burdened with mountains of Irish red tape and ‘computer says no’ may be scowling at the radio upon hearing that but the findings from the consultants PWC and Colm O’Callaghan, Partner with PWC’s Entrepreneurial & Private Business Practice spoke to Joe on the show this morning with more on this.

We take a look at today's business papers and markets.

The most controversial FIFA world cup ever starts this weekend in Qatar - a tiny country which never even qualified before this. The stadiums have been built on the backs of thousands of poorly paid labourers from South Asia and an estimated 6000 of them died making them. Speaking to Joe this morning to discuss the moral cost of Qatar was Michael Hershman who has been involved in 4 or 5 world cups along with olympics and super bowls. He was a former advisor to Fifa and was on FIFA's independent governance committee. He’s also a co-founder of Transparency International and a member of the team that wrote the first comprehensive reform plan for FIFA in 2014 and he's the former CEO and current advisory board member of the International Center for Sports Security in Qatar.