Breakfast Business

Wednesday's business news headlines along with Joe Lynam.

Last month Stena ferries said that it was stopping its services from Rosslare in Wexford to France impacting holidaymakers and businesses alike. Now Brittany Ferries says that it will step in and beef up its existing sailings from Rosslare to Cherbourg. Brexit was the main reason why container traffic has increased 6 fold from the South East as EU companies could bypass customs checks and delays in Britain by sailing straight to France, Belgium or even Spain from Ireland. Christophe Mathieu is the CEO of Brittany Ferries

The Planning & Development Act was supposed to speed up the delivery of big infrastructure projects by limiting the number of objections permissible. Thus far there is no evidence of the Act doing what it says on the tin. So why do we have an objection culture in this country and why even bother throwing good money after bad if everything will be blocked in the courts? All to discuss with Alice Whittaker is a partner with the law firm Philip Lee who has worked on a myriad of notable projects such as the Dublin Incinerator and the forthcoming Dublin Array wind energy project.

Tom Hayes spend five years in jail for rigging the key benchmark interest rate among banks known as LIBOR. He used to work for UBS and Citi banks and vigorously protested his innocence. Two weeks ago the UK Supreme Court agreed with him and quashed the conviction. But how did it come to pass that an individual and not a wealthy bank would be sent to prison for doing his then job and what happens now to those other traders who pleaded guilty in similar circumstances in order to minimise their punishment? Tom Hayes joined Joe this morning to tell his story.

We take a look at Tuesday's business news headline.

All the business news with Aidan Donnelly from Davys.

Visitor numbers from overseas to Ireland in June were down 2% to 654,000. That's much better than many had feared after earlier CSO data suggested a major fall-off in tourist numbers. But that figure is still around half the number of people who came to this island before Covid in 2019. Why? Is it the astonishingly high cost of holidaying and eating out in Ireland or is something else at play? Alice Mansergh chief executive of Tourism Ireland, joined Joe Lynam on the show to discuss.

The AI act from the European Union came into force earlier this year but its legal obligations are being slowly rolled out. Tomorrow, an important new phases come into force which will oblige AI companies and users of artificial intelligence to comply with a slew of new rules. Doubtless, this will irritate quite a few people in the tech industry and even in the White House. So what are these new obligations? Maureen Daly an IP Partner with the lawyers Pinsent Masons joined Joe Lynam on the show to discuss.

Victoria Scholar from Interactive Investor joined Joe Lynam to discuss the latest on the markets.

Last week the government said it was set to spend €100bn over the next 5 years on infrastructure. Most of that will go on housing and water but the urgency on expanding the electricity grid was highlighted when Amazon walked away from a giant project because ESB networks couldn't guarantee the power for it. Now the energy suppliers Pinergy say that demand for electricity will grow by 66% by 2050 and based on the current trajectory and that demand won't be met with adequate supply. Enda Gunnell chief executive of Pinergy joined Joe Lynam on the show.

The newly merged Smurfit Westrock's is the world's largest listed packaging partner. Today they published their 2nd quarter consolidated results and they posted a net loss of $26m on sales of just under $8bn but an EBITDA of $1.2bn. The fact that it operates across 42 countries with paper and cardboard 67 mills means it should be shielded from the de-globalisation brought on by Donald Trump's tariff wars. Ken Bowles, chief financial officer with Smurfit Westrock joined Joe Lynam on the show.

Joe Lynam takes a run through Wednesday's business news headlines.

District heating is where local homes and businesses get their heating from a single building in the area which itself gets that energy from renewable sources such as heat pumps or solar. Ireland has the lowest amount of renewably sourced heat in all of Europe. The Scandinavians are streets ahead of us. Copenhagen has 3000km of pipework for district heating - while Dublin has only 2. But fear not only 2 weeks ago the very first district heating scheme was announced in Ireland and it's good news for my next guest who specialises in it having lived in Denmark for many years. David Connolly, chief executive of HeatGrid.ie and the Newstalk Green Biz person of the month with Repak joined Joe Lynam on the show.

Poolbeg Pharma, named after the infamous Red & white towers has been working on some very exciting new ideas including a new cancer immunity drug and a potential weight loss tablet. But most early drug developments fail to make it to the final round of testing on humans because it's so risky and so expensive. And what does a pharma company like Poolbeg make of the EU-US trade deal with its 15% tariffs thus far? Jeremy Skillington, is the chief executive of Poolbeg pharma and joined Joe Lynam on the show this morning.

Joe Lynam takes a run through Wednesday's business news headlines.

Last week the government said that the tax cutting package in the October budget would be €1.5bn but that almost ⅔ of that would go to the hospitality sector in order to cut VAT rates for it back down to 9%. My next guest will be one of the beneficiaries of that but, because all his clients are companies, won't be doing any profit taking - he assures me. He runs entertainment and catering for business tourists from all over the world. He even provides the catering for movie sets such as the TV series Wednesday and Ireland now earns around €1bn a year from business tourism. Andrew Rudd is the owner of Medley and joined Joe Lynam on the show this morning.

Joe Lynam was joined by John Alistair the former Director of International Affairs for the EU Commission and Head of the EU Delegation to the WTO as well as the UN. He's a Senior Trade negotiator and now a lecturer and consultant. He knows a fair bit about international trade and yesterday he described the EU trade deal with the US as ‘the worst trade deal ever'. But what does he really think?

Joe Lynam takes a run through Tuesday's business news headlines.

Joe Lynam takes a run through Monday's business news headlines with Russ Mould of AJ Bell.

With the rising cost of hiring as well as rents and insurance, it's no surprise that many companies outsource their customer services overseas. My next guest operates call centres for a number of Ireland based businesses to India and the Philippines. But increasingly he is developing an AI operated voice service for his customers in order to cut his price tags for Irish clients. How does it work and how believable are AI assistants? Niresh Moodley is the Chief executive of Your Team

So we've reached a trade deal with the US. All physical European goods will now face a 15% tariff while Americans will pay almost nothing to be sold here. Is it a trade deal or a trade capitulation and what will it mean for our companies selling in the States or American giants based here. My next guest is the chair of the IDA but is also a director on the board of the drink giant C&C as well as the wealth managers Yuno Energy. Feargal O'Rourke, Chair of the IDA joined Joe Lynam on the show.

All the business news and markets this Friday along with Joe Lynam and Aidan Donnelly from Davys.

Yesterday the government set out 26 actions to cut our astonishingly high insurance premiums down including legal reforms to reduce high payouts in the courts. Seán Fitzgerald, is a partner with HOMS assist represents people who have been negligence victims. Especially in the case of industrial accidents. What does he make of the reforms? Seán Fitzgerald discussed with Joe this morning.

Ireland has among the least developed and most overused infrastructure in Europe. The Government will spend €100bn to build the railways, roads and water infrastructure that the nation needs. But we don't have a great track record when it comes to building stuff while we are past masters of objecting to the construction of nearly everything. All to discuss with Kaine Lynch works for the infrastructure consultants Turner & Townsend.

Drones are the technological equivalent of the airplane a century ago. Manna Drones delivering food in the West Dublin area. But plans to expand to other parts of the city have faced huge resistance from locals who don't like the buzzing sounds. Are we about to shoo away a genuine business technology company or can planning rows be surmounted? All to discuss with Bobby Healy the Chief Executive of Manna Drone Delivery.

The government has launched a consultation to expand the Critical Skills Occupations List that can be fast-tracked into the country when it comes to getting a work permit. But where will they all live is also the question. Speaking to Joe this morning was Alan Dillon is the Minister of State at the department of Enterprise with special responsibility for small business who has also launched a new strategic review of the WRC.

Joe Lynam takes a run through Thursday's business news headlines.

Joe Lynam takes a run through Wednesday' business news headlines.

Legislation to force all drink companies to include health warning labels on all bottles of alcohol has been postponed due to the additional costs it would impose on smaller producers. It's a small welcome break for whiskey makers who are facing a perfect storm of falling alcohol consumption among young people and potentially huge tariffs on the American market. Joe was joined on the show this morning by Eoin O'Cathain the Director of the Irish Whiskey Association.

SCARP is the Small Company Administrative Rescue Process and was designed to cut the costs and timeframes for SMEs needing to be restructured or wound up. It's been around in full for 4 years but the take up has been lower than expected. Many insolvency professionals say that's because the Revenue the nation's biggest creditor is not using it and has an effective Veto on using SCARPs. But is that true? All to discuss with Paddy Purtill, Principal Officer in the Collector Generals, Revenue.

How good are you at accurately working out the size of a room or an entire house and the actual space within it from architectural plans? Lifesize Plans Ireland turns those plans into life-size rooms that you can walk into and around. It helps homeowners hoping to expand or build from scratch in order to assess exactly how much space they do or do not have to play with. It's also a benefit for architectural practices and businesses. Joe spoke to John Foley the co-founder alongside his wife Emma of Lifesize Plans Ireland.

They are the 3rd largest no frills airline in Europe with the youngest fleet on the continent and from this weekend will have 1000 flights a week. Wizz air started life in Hungary but is now all over Europe except for one notable market Ireland. Joining Joe this morning was Yvonne Moynihan, Managing Director of Wizz Air UK.

Joe Lynam takes a run through Tuesday's business news headlines.

In the first quarter of the current financial year, Europe's biggest airline said profits were up 78% to €820m. It said that average air fares were 21% higher to 51 per passenger. But only 5 new Boeing 737s were delivered over the past 3 months and the airline was in the news for supposedly incentivizing its staff to charge passengers for oversized luggage. All to discuss with the Chief Executive of the Ryanair Group, Michael O'Leary.

Joining Tom McEnaney to run through Friday's business headlines Kate English, Chief Economist for Deloitte.

Last night, the Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2025 was introduced in the Dáil by Robert Troy, Minister of State at the Department of Finance. The bill seeks to ensure cancer survivors can't be discriminated against when it comes to obtaining certain insurance products due to their medical history. Robert Troy, Minister of State at the Department of Finance joined Tom this morning on the show.

A lot of focus on Ireland's housing market in recent days and weeks with some significant changes in terms of regulations looking to accelerate development. But what can we learn from other markets in terms of fast-tracking that capital investment that's badly needed? Speaking to Tom this morning on the show was Andy Tallon the Head of Debt Advisory at Interpath in Ireland and also the Global Head of Real Estate with Interpath.

When looking at job adverts, it's very rare to see how much the job actually pays. That comes to an end in this country before June next year. The European Union‘s pay transparency directive also calls for clarity on gender pay discrepancies and will lead to a whole new body of work for HR departments. But will it add to the cost and administrative burden for employers just when we are trying to do the opposite? All to discuss with Mairead O'Mahoney, the Director of Human capital with the professional services advisers AON.

It's becoming increasingly clear that AI is going to replace quite a few white-collar jobs in the next 5 years. So what does that mean for those working in entry-level jobs in the law or accountancy or administration which face replacing? Also we ask has the trade war had any impact on hiring yet? All to discuss with Siobhan Kinsella from Employment and Recruitment Federation.

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

Wednesday business news headlines along with Joe Lynam.

ICS started off life as the ‘Irish Civil Service building society', before being bought out, bailed out and then hived off from Bank of Ireland after the financial crisis. It's now owned by various Irish investors under the name of Dilosk and it depends on the international money markets for setting its interest rates when it comes to mortgage lending. But how do you break the stranglehold on the home loan markets held by the big 3 pillar banks? All to discuss with Ray McMahon, Chief Commercial Officer with ICS Bank.