Breakfast Business

Everyone knows UPS with their distinctive brown uniforms and vans. But did you know it has a major healthcare division focusing on getting vital products and sometimes even organs from A to B in zip time.  And with Pharma accounting for 50% of Irish physical exports, UPS is opening a new state-of-the-art healthcare facility in Swords. Cathy O’Brien, Vice President for International Sales at UPS Healthcare

It’s been exactly 3 years since the HSE and the Irish Government was rocked by a giant cyber attack which flattened the Irish healthcare system.  The attackers wanted ransom to be paid in cryptocurrencies which is the go-to payment method due to its perceived untraceability.  But what can the authorities do in these situations? Joining Joe this morning was Jim Lee used to be a Director of Criminal Investigations with the US tax collection service the IRS but is now a senior adviser with ChainAlysis which specialises in protecting government bodies and the private sector when using the Blockchain. 

Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam takes a look at today's business stories and websites.

The average cost of litigation through the courts is €17000 and can take up to 4 years but if you use the injuries resolution board formerly known as PIAB you can bring that down to roughly 9 months and a fraction of the cost. Mediation is a new service as well which adds to the slew of insurance reforms aimed at keeping premiums down. But premiums which have fallen of late especially for car insurance are starting to go back up.  It all comes as the Injuries resolution board marks 20 years in action.  Speaking to Joe this morning was Rosalind Carroll is the Chief executive of the Injuries resolutions Board 

What do the credit unions, An Post, Lidl and Boots have in common?  They've been voted the most reputable companies in Ireland.  Uisce Eireann has improved the most but dear old RTE has falling down the charts the most over the past year according to the Reputations agency. Niamh Boyle, is the CEO of The Reputations Agency and joined Joe this morning on the show.

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

There has been a lot of turbulence in Ireland’s general insurance market with lots of companies exiting - claiming that it wasn't profitable.  But a series of reforms including the PIAB scheme and caps on payouts has seen newer entrants coming in.  One of the more notable new kids on the block will be OutSurance from South Africa which launches this week.    Joining Joe in studio was Peter Broome the Country Manager of Outsurance Ireland.  

The original mission of enterprise Ireland was to encourage small Irish companies to grow overseas. Increasingly that mission is to support start-up companies and last year it supported 156 such companies 55% of whom were outside the capital city. On top of that, some of those companies will represent Ireland at the start up “World Cup“. Speaking to Joe this morning was Anna-Marie Turley,  Head of Entrepreneurship and High Potential Start-Ups at Enterprise Ireland.

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

The front page of the Business Post recently said that in order to meet population growth as well as demand, Ireland might need to dramatically hike its annual building target to almost  80,000 units.  That’s pretty unlikely at the moment but it’s clear that unified national effort is needed from the public and private sectors.  Bank of Ireland have hired a new Head of property and project finance business and he’s looking at using the bank’s leverage and financial clout to get shovels in the ground.  John Feeney joined Joe on the show this morning.

Artificial intelligence is the buzzword for companies.  But what will it really change for businesses and have the smaller firms any chance to keep up if they can't afford to use expensive AI packages compared to larger rivals.  Bearing Point are American consultants with a sizeable presence here in Ireland who advise other companies how and what to do with AI. Speaking to Joe in studio this morning was Gillian O’Sullivan is country Leader with Bearing Point Ireland. 

A look at the international business stories this morning with Russ Mould from AJ Bell.

2024 has probably been the worst year for Boeing‘s reputation since the company was founded almost 80 years ago. A door blew out mid-air in January and only this week it emerged that safety inspectors at the planemaker didn’t carry out their work on the new 787 Dreamliner aircraft. On top of that the BBC has spoken to whistleblowers outlining corners being cut at companies which supplied Boeing. And the business correspondent who has been across this story for months is the BBC’s Theo Leggett. Theo spoke to Joe this morning on the show.

Anyone who has ever painted anything or played a musical instrument or even dreamed of being a designer, will probably have noticed Apple’s much vaunted new advert for its new very expensive iPad.  Dozens of items in the creative process are physically crushed and destroyed revealing the new thinnest ever iPad in its wake.  The backlash was quick and stinging from many quarters from people who demanded that Apple withdraw the advert. Someone who has seen plenty of adverts which metaphorically crush the opposition is our Technology Correspondent Jess Kelly who joined Joe this morning.

Aidan Donnelly from Davys joined Joe this morning to run through the main business stories this morning.

The amount of money laundered around the world is an estimated $3.6 trillion or nearly 4% of global GDP.  Only 1% of that ever gets recovered.  It’s hard to fathom that so much money can be ‘cleansed’ from illicit origins and yet so little ends up in the hands of taxpayers.  So what can we do to curb money laundering that’s not already being done. Ireland lost out to Frankfurt in March to be the home of the EU Anti Money Laundering Agency but we do have plenty of experts in this field. Speaking to Joe this morning was David Lewis is the Managing Director and Global Head of Anti-Money Laundering with Kroll & Co.

Vertigo is usually associated with a fear of heights but it’s a lot more than that and can affect 1 in 20 in older people.  Treating it is complicated but an Irish startup is working on a device to help with that.  It’s called Vertigenius and today joining Joe was Mark Barry is the Chief Executive who has just secured €2.1m to expand R&D.

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

Ireland’s largest chain of pharmacies, Lloyds with 80 shops, has just merged with McCabe's to make it a formidable group with 112 stores.  The entire group is now owned by a company called PHX which is a wholesale as well as retail business throughout Europe. Paul Reilly from PHX Ireland which now includes McCabe's pharmacies joined Joe this morning in studio.

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