Breakfast Business

Monday's business news headlines with Susan Culleton Hayes and Russ Mould from AJ Bell.

PwC have published a list of recommendations for Budget 2027 where they have emphasised the necessity for long-term measures to encourage Ireland's capacity and competitiveness. Joining Susan Culleton Hayes in studio was PwC Head of Tax Paraic Burke.

Ireland spent decades building talent for multinational success. AI now presents an opportunity to turn that expertise into Irish-owned businesses. The question is whether we choose to seize it. Susan discuss all with the Founder of CoreOS, Tadhg Guiry.

Inflation expectations have risen notably thanks to the war in Iran but domestic demand will continue to grow at a sustainable pace. These are the views of the Central bank of Ireland in its latest quarterly bulletin. It says that if oil and gas prices remain high, inflation could reach 5% this year. Martin O'Brien Head of Irish Economic Analysis with the Central Bank explains these findings.

Ten years ago this weekend, British citizens voted to leave the EU. Irish people living there had a vote but all other European citizens had no vote. Instead of voting for something specific the UK began a torturous process of divorce which in many ways continues today. Joe looks back on ten years of Brexit with Gavin Megaw a Management Consultant who used to run the international PR company Hanover and Rory Godson used to run Powerscourt consultancy before he sold it recently to Sodali where he's still the chair of Strategic comms.

Joe Lynam takes a look at this morning's business headlines.

A trickle of tankers have started shipping oil through the infamous Straits of Hormuz pushing down oil prices. David Roche the founder of Quantum Strategies says even if they ramp up quickly there'll still be a shortfall of 11 million barrels a day from the Middle East. David discussed this and more with Joe Lynam.

Joe Lynam takes a look through Friday's business headlines along with Kate English the Chief Economist with Deloitte.

Remote medicine is becoming a very real thing with software and hardware solutions helping patients at a distance and cutting down on unnecessary hospital visits. PatientMpower provides a platform for patients to measure their own lung capacity as well as blood pressure and those readings are fed directly to doctors and treating nurses. Eamonn Costello, CEO of PatientMpower explained the details of their business model.

Joe Lynam takes a look at Wednesday's business headlines.

Inner City Enterprise turns derelict urban properties into new work spaces for Irish startups. They've been around since 2012 and helped 1600 micro businesses and disadvantaged people. Speaking to Joe this morning was Evanne Kilmurray the Chief Executive of Inner City Enterprise.

Brightbeam advises companies in the biopharma, life sciences, insurance and manufacturing sectors about how to use AI. Brightbeam even thinks that Ireland might have an edge in the roll out of AI globally. It comes as the White House literally ordered Anthropic to switch off its latest powerful iteration of Claude. Brian Hanly, Chief executive of Brightbeam spoke to Joe on the show this morning.

Joe Lynam takes a look at Tuesday's business news headlines.

The National Economic Dialogue started this week. It's where the main social partners sit with the government to underline what they want and what's realistic in October's budget. The Minister for Finance has already flagged that change is coming for how we invest our private funds. Patricia Callan the Director of Financial services Ireland was at the meeting yesterday and explained to Joe what happened during the course of the day.

Many people don't gardens or gardens big enough to grow lettuce or herbs and may not live beside a supermarket to buy it fresh. Hedley Aylott runs Home Harvest which is a special smart device which looks like a fridge to grow your greens and herbs in. Joe hears all about the business with Co-Founder of Home Harvest Hedley Aylott.

Even though we are all supposed to be moving towards fossil-free fuel methods of heating our homes, demand for boilers has never been as strong. Grant in Birr Co Offaly makes more than half of all the boilers sold in Ireland and astonishingly 56% of all the boilers sold in Britain. Joining Joe to discuss the business was Keith Scully the Training Manager at Grant.

Monday's business news review with Joe Lynam along with Kathleen Brooks Research Director from XTB.

New figures show first-time buyer mortgages for new homes have surged across the country by 50% since 2021. While mover activity has fallen in every region For more on this Susan was joined by the Chief Economist of BPFI, Ali Ugur.

Europe's mobile industry is now worth more than €1 trillion a year to the EU economy, according to new figures published ahead of Ireland taking over the EU presidency Speaking to Susan this morning was the Director General of the GSMA, Vivek Badrinath.

Friday's business headlines with Susan Jane Culleton and Aidan Donnelly from Davys.

Now, Kilkenny Design with The Local Enterprise Offices has today announced the launch of the Kilkenny Design Makers Academy, a business development programme designed to support ambitious local makers, designers and creative entrepreneurs to build sustainable and scalable businesses.The program will see 25 business get their chance to learn the key skills to grow their business under the guise of Kilkenny Designs and their Local Enterprise OfficeTo share all the details of this exciting opportunity for Irish businesses Evelyn Moynihan, CEO of Kilkenny Design, joined Susan Hayes Culleton in for Joe to discuss

 It is estimated that many SMEs here in Ireland are missing out on the opportunity to recoup up to 35% of their r&d spend through tax credits. Figures from 2023 show that only 19% of SMEs are claiming r&d tax credits. Tcm Funding Has Now Officially Launched In Ireland, Offering Specialist Support To Help Businesses Identify Whether They Qualify And Submit Robust, Compliant Claims. To help Us Unpack What This Means for Irish businesses, and if more businesses should consider Applying For r&d Tax Credits, Susan Hayes Culleton in for Joe, was joined by Bradley Chalmers, Group Managing Partner TCM Funding

Thursday's business headlines with Susan Hayes Culleton in for Joe

Wednesday's business headlines with Joe Lynam.

In an effort to deal with soaring rents the government created ‘approved housing bodies'. Their job among other things is to source properties at affordable rents. Tuath Housing does exactly that and hopes to deliver 2530 cost rental homes in the coming 18 months in which tenants will have secure housing at more affordable prices. Speaking to Joe was Sean O'Connor the Chief Executive of not-for-profit company Tuath Housing

The Government set up a task force last year in the hope of somehow coming up with a clear action plan for how the State can speed up the delivery of major infrastructure projects.Seán O'Driscoll was one of the key driving forces on that task force and is also the chair of UCC and the former chair of the ESRI.

After a conviction and jail time, returning to the workforce especially in a white collar job is extremely difficult. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development is working with Tosú which works alongside convicts, to help with training and mentoring. Sally Eley, Head of the CIPD Trust spoke to Joe this morning about this incentive.

Ireland is not the only country with problems delivering major infrastructure projects on time and on budget. Britain only has to talk about its delayed expansion plans at Heathrow airport and its high speed rail line. The new British ambassador is suggesting that Britain and Ireland should co-plan and co-invest in 'grand projects'. Joe discusses this and more with Kara Owen the British Ambassador to Ireland.

Tuesday's business news headlines with Joe Lynam.

TikTok, Meta and YouTube are facing a growing wave of appeals under Europe's Digital Services Act, with the independent body responsible for whether some posts should be taken down or left up, based now in Ireland. The Appeals Centre Europe has published its latest annual report which found a 9 fold jump in the number of people complaining about moderation decisions. Speaking to Joe was Thomas Hughes the Chief Executive of the Appeals Centre Europe.

International business news headlines with Joe Lynam and Russ Mould from AJ Bell.

Some may find it tough to worry about estate agents especially in a time of rapidly growing house prices. But AI is starting to have an impact on the selling of houses. Regina Mangan has her own estate agency and is organising a big conference for the house selling sector in Waterford this week.

Nick Adams has been given the job by Donald Trump of attracting 100m visitors to the US every year before 2030. No mean feat when the public face of America is not very popular worldwide. Nick Adams is the US Presidential Envoy for Tourism and he joined Joe on the show this morning.

Almost 50% of all mortgages are arranged through a broker. The sector is booming amid a very robust housing market. Finance Solutions arranges mortgages but also commercial loans and asset finance and is hiring an additional 100 staff in the coming year or so. Philip Healy, Head of Commercial lending with Finance Solutions spoke to Joe this morning.

Kepak has teamed up with Tirlán and Tesco to create a new ‘lower carbon' range of beef products - using nutrition, genetics, animal health, as well as the type of cattle to cut emissions by 23% on average. Joe discusses this and more with Mick O'Dowd, is Head of Agri-Business at the Kepak Group.

Thursday's business headlines with Joe Lynam.

Joe Lynam along with Kate English from Deloitte tales a look at Friday's business news.

Consolidation is definitely under way amid the professional classes. We've seen it among the accountants, auditors and PR consultants in the past 4 years and now we're seeing it increasingly in the legal world. Winston Strawn merged officially this week with Taylor Wessing to form Winston Taylor. But will these mergers avert what could be mass job destruction in the sector caused by AI? Joining Joe this morning was Adam Griffiths the Head of the Winston Taylor Dublin office.

We have seen some disproportionate layoffs in Ireland's tech sector recently, on the whole the economy appears to be weathering the fuel shock caused by the US and Israeli war against Iran. But will that last as AI, Chinese subsidies and geopolitics start to have a lasting impact on the European economy? To discuss all with Joe was Brian McEnery the Managing partner with BDO Ireland which is merging with its UK counterpart .

Wednesday's business headlines with Joe Lynam.

Irish property prices have increased by an astonishing 51% since 2020. So if you were a property investor that would have been a serious return. David Jelly the Chief Executive of Property Bridges has created a way for ordinary retail investors to help fund house construction and get into the property market without having to worry about conveyancing and legal costs and without having to set foot in the properties themselves.

Tuesday's business headlines with Joe Lynam.