Breakfast Business

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.

The problem with traditional pension schemes in Europe is they are mostly not portable - i.e. if you start saving in a scheme in Estonia you can't continue with it if you move to Ireland and vice versa. There's a new Pan-European Personal Pension Product or PEPP being rolled out across Europe which gives that portability. Tamara Vrhovec Sekáč, is the International Business Expansion Manager at Finax which provides the platform for such pensions.

A look R Friday's business headlines with Susan Hayes Culleton along with Aidan Donnelly From Davys.

EirSpace brings high-achieving students from third level institutions to collaborate on aerospace projects with it's Bell Burnell Rocket. To hear all about their business and projects was Keith Egan is Director of Operations at EirSpace.

DASH Leaders announces the official launch of its leadership development platform, introducing a fresh and practical approach designed to accelerate performance through Edutainment. Susan got the details of the platform with Maria Langan, Founder and CEO.

Thursday business headlines with Joe Lynam.

Every company wants to do its bit for the environment so long as it doesn't cost too much. SustainabilityExamples.com at has created a website which shares how small companies all over Ireland have introduced small but notable steps to cut emissions. It does what it says on the tin and allows SMEs to learn from each other without having to pay huge consulting fees. It's run by Andrew Sheehan and he's this month's Repak Business Person of the Month.

Geopolitical risks brought on by the Iran war are the Central Bank of Ireland's biggest concern but the Irish economy is resilient and one of the best placed nations to benefit from AI. They are some of the views of the Governor as he published the first financial stability Review of the year. Joe discussed those global risks with the Governor.

Wednesday's business headlines with Joe Lynam.

The technology sector contributed €107bn to the Irish exchequer last year and data centres are at the heart of that windfall but are being ‘demonised'. That's the view of Digital Infrastructure Ireland in a new report which also found that any restrictions on new data centres would cause considerable harm to our economy in the age of AI. Speaking to Joe to discuss this and more was Maurice Mortell Chairman of Digital infrastructure Ireland.

The Dublin Tech summit starts today. Autonomous cars on our streets will be discussed and nations such as Croatia and the Netherlands have already approved their limited use but await full EU approval, which may take time. Thomas Zimmerman the boss of the biggest European ride hailing app Freenow and he will be speaking to delegates about self-driving vehicles today. Thomas joined Joe this morning.

Qashio is a fintech, which supplies corporate credit cards to businesses. The company, which was co-founded by a Cork woman, enables easier expense management for staff and is growing rapidly in the Middle East where it is based. They're hoping to ramp up here in Ireland and Europe. Lydia Foott the co founder of Qashio joined Joe in studio.

Tuesday's business news headlines with Joe Lynam.

The picture according to a survey from Chartered Accountants Ireland looks worrying for SMEs. 71% of them are more pessimistic than they were six months ago and all of them are worried about rising costs. Conversely a quarter of small companies reported increased profits. It comes as accountants themselves face huge challenges from AI and mounting legislation. Joe discusses the survey findings with Cróna Clohisey, Director of Members and Advocacy, Chartered Accountants Ireland.

There is a new piece of legislation being haggled over in the EU called the Financial Data Access regulation or FiDA. The idea is to share banking data with fintechs and banks in order to democratise financial services and create way more competition in the banking sector. It's quite complex as to what will happen to this personal data and many are nervous about sharing anything with the big social media giants. Joe discusses this further with Kathrina Murphy Partner with EY.

Monday' business news review with Joe Lynam and Economist Austin Hughes.

Given the decline in the number of letters that we are sending each other, An Post urgently needs to earn more money from parcels and packages .The logistics giant said that it now ranks 4th in the IPC sustainability index thanks to removing all its diesel vans and replacing them with EVs as well as using 99% renewable energy in all its buildings nationwide. But change in the form of major competition from Amazon could upend that business model. Joe discusses this and more with Owen Keogh Head of Sustainability with An Post.

Friday's business news review along with Joe Lynam and Aidan Donnelly from Davys.

Emerald Park in Co Meath welcomed 800,000 visitors to the amusement park last year. Emerald Park which used to be known as Tayto Park gets a brand new attraction: Lost valley: The Land of Dinosaurs including a ‘Swing o Saurus' ride. Charles Coyle Managing Director of Emerald Park spoke to Joe this morning.

European Commission slashed its growth forecast for this year to 0.9% for the EU. Additionally, inflation is set to remain stubbornly high at around 3.1%. The economic backdrop for European companies couldn't be more challenging given the Trade war started by Trump and a potential Trade war starting against China.Joe discusses all this further with Fredrik Persson the President of Business Europe which is the IBEC equivalent for Europe.

The latest Reptrak index of mostly highly valued organisations in Ireland is out and the Credit Unions sits atop the list once again - followed by An Post and the IRFU interestingly. At the very bottom lies X - the social media formerly known as Twitter. So why are some organisations perennially popular while others often unloved? Speaking to Joe to discuss was Alan Tyrell, the Chief Executive of the Reputations Agency.