Breakfast Business

LinkedIn is one of the biggest social media platforms and certainly the most polite as its users are primarily professionals.  It’s a popular networking site and frequently used for job hunters.  And the latest survey from LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, shows that Dublin has seen the biggest uptick in hiring among the top 50 cities around the world.  In fact, Ireland comes in as the 6th most popular country for job searches. It comes amid an ever-worsening housing crisis and many employers rowing back on its offers to work from home. Sue Duke Country Manager for Ireland with LinkedIn joined joe this morning on the show.

The latest assessment of the health of the Irish economy from the Central Bank of Ireland suggests that the economy is performing well but bottlenecks are starting to hold future growth back and may even resuscitate the perception of inflation.  And the central bank says that Ireland may need 20,000 more homes built per annum than are currently being constructed. It even provides some advice on how to solve the nations seemingly intractable problem.  Joining Joe this morning was Dr Robert Kelly is the Director of Economics and Statistics with the Central Bank of Ireland. 

We take a look at Wednesday's business news headlines.

Joe Lynam takes a run through of the main business stories this morning.

The biggest annual event in Ireland starts today.  Known simply as ‘the Ploughing’ it brings together hundreds of thousands of people every year and is a ‘must attend’ event for politicians and companies as they get a chance to speak to ordinary people and find out what they like and what they loathe.  It’s akin to the Champions league final for the Irish Farmers Journal and telling us how important this event is to the farming community was Lorcan Roche Kelly is the Agri-Business Editor with the Journal. 

Yesterday one of the most important commissioners in the European Union, Thierry Breton, resigned suddenly in a row with the President Ursula Von der Leyen. It comes as she tries to formulate a brand-new commission. As newly elected MEP‘s digest the crucial report from Mario Draghi last week which hopes to restore European competitiveness which has fallen behind China and the US over the past 20 years.So what can MEPs do to steady the ship and stimulate growth in Europe? Joe asked Aura Salla is a member of the ECON committee of the European Parliament. 

Data centres love them or loathe them are at the heart of the digital economy and will become even more important as the normal economy takes up the usage of AI which requires even more storage and computing power than ordinary text searches. One Irish company MTM Engineering has been around for 27 years and benefited from the surge in data centres here.  Speaking to Joe this morning was Brendan Mee is the Chief Executive of MTM engineering.

We take a look a the main business stories this morning with Ross Mould from AJ Bell.

 Gerald Lawless was the president of the Jumeirah Group in Dubai which includes the iconic Burj Al Arab Hotel. He was also a Director here at the Shelburne hotel and has worked in the Tourism trade in Switzerland. He’s seen how tourist trends develop and has some views on the idea of a tourist tax. Gerald joined Joe this morning.

Do you know what social investing is? Perhaps your company does it to improve its ESG credentials. Mary Lawlor Chief Executive Clann Credo encourages companies to invest in projects which have a social purpose rather than just a Profit motive. Mary Lawlor Chief Executive Clann Credo joined Joe this morning this morning to chat about the work of Clann Credo.

International business news and markets with Economist Austin Hughes.

Even though consumption patterns appear to suggest that we are spending more, new research for PTSB finds that we are in fact saving more than usual as well.  And we are switching utility providers more than as well. Despite that, the Reflecting Ireland study says that more than ⅖ of us don't have an ‘emergency fund’ while conversely 61% of consumers think things will get even better for them next year. Speaking to Joe this morning Leontia Fannin is chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer with PTSB. 

The fourth onshore renewable energy auction was announced this week. Overall just over 2 GW of solar and wind energy was available to be bidders.  60% of that, which can power the homes of 900,000 people for one hour, will be onshore wind farms and the rest solar.  The guaranteed price from the State to the winning bidders came in at just under €100 per MW of electricity.  That’s slightly less than the previous auction.  But how long before these vital new energy sources are actually online? One of the successful bidders was the Danish owned Ørsted which got approval for a 55 MW solar farm in Cork. Speaking to Joe this morning was TJ Hunter Head of Onshore business with Ørsted UK and Ireland.

In 19 days from now the Finance Minister Jack Chambers will rise to his feet to give this coalition's final budget before the election. He has plenty of money in his pocket but what will he spend it on? Small companies have been complaining for quite awhile that they are overburdened with red tape and employment costs. The Small Firms Association wants to see a PRSI rebate as well as a national training voucher scheme. It also wants an overhaul of the tax system which might be a big ask. But what should small companies realistically expect? Speaking to Joe this morning was David Broderick, Director of the Small Firms Association.  

Thursday's business news and updates with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

There are nearly 800,000 domestic boilers in this country. The vast majority of them use kerosene to heat our homes but kerosene is a pretty filthy gas and awful for our environment. We also have incredibly ambitious targets to cut our emissions from domestic heating by 40% over the next six years. One Cork company, Firebird Home Heating, reckons it can do its bit as part of the transition to emissions free heating of our homes. They propose using hydrotreated vegetable oil mixed with kerosene and making that fuel of choice between now and 2030. Mark Doyle, Managing Director of Firebird Home Heating Solutions joined Joe this morning to discuss further.

Donald Trump squared off against his presidential rival Kamala Harris overnight and a few sparks flew. Much of the world holds its breath to see who will be in the White House from next year. But business leaders are also watching to see who will be running France and Germany over the next 12 months. To pull these strands together, Joe spoke to Michael O’Sullivan is author of the Levelling and co founder of Unio Wealth Managers.

Joe Lynam takes a run through of Wednesday's business headlines and main news stories.

Joe was joined by Noelle O’Connell, CEO of the European Movement in Ireland, to discuss Mario Draghi’s recent speech on the EU's economic challenges. Draghi, credited with saving the Euro in 2012, warned that Europe is falling behind the US and China in competitiveness. He proposed major reforms, including changes to EU voting rules and suggested the need for €800 billion annually in investment. Draghi also floated the idea of introducing direct EU taxes or collective borrowing to fund these efforts.

Joe was joined by Peter Vale, International Tax Partner with Grant Thornton, to discuss the ongoing legal battle over Apple’s €13.2 billion fine, which has been sitting in an escrow account for six years. The EU Commission accused Apple of illegally obtaining state aid from Ireland, but Ireland has been defending Apple, fearing it could harm future foreign investment. As the European Court of Justice prepares to make its ruling, this decision could have major implications for Ireland and its relationship with tech giants.