Sundar Pichai, the chief executive Google and its parent group Alphabet, says the US tech giant is committed to Ireland but that the EU needs to cut back on regulation, the Business Post reports.
He says that he has been encouraged by conversations with EU leaders, who are looking to invest in innovation and also simplify regulation, according to the report. The comments came as US president Donald Trump last week ratcheted up pressure on EU leaders to reach a trade deal as he threatened to introduce tariffs of 50 per cent on products from the union.
Google employs more than 5,000 people directly in Ireland and thousands more temporary and contract workers.
The Business Post noted that since Mr Trump’s return to office, US tech bosses have turned the heat up on Brussels, known as the world’s toughest regulator, to water down the EU’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act and limit enforcement of the bloc’s Digital Markets Act.
Developers warn on housing targets
The Business Post also carries a report citing construction industry executives as saying the Government will only end up building half of the 300,000 homes it has pledged to deliver by 2030, if it does not move immediately to introduce major tax and rental control changes.
The piece quotes private equity-owned home builder Evara’s chief executive, Michael Hynes as saying that the company, formerly known as Quintain Ireland, can start on 1,000 apartments this year, and 1,000 more in 2026, if the 13.5 per cent VAT rate is abolished and a waiver is granted on development levies for apartments.
Mr Hynes also told Minister for Housing James Browne in private meetings that the rent pressure zone (RPZ) cap should be raised from 2 per cent to 4 per cent, and landlords be allowed to return a home to market rate between tenancies.
Glenveagh Properties CEO Stephen Garvey has also backed tax breaks for developers saying they “need to be on the table”, the report said.
Marlet narrows bidders for retail parks
Marlet Property Group, led by chief executive Pat Crean, has attracted strong bid interest for three retail parks and has narrowed the list down to four suitors for the portfolio, which is valued at about €120 million, according to The Sunday Times.
The portfolio comprises Belgard Retail Park in Tallaght, the M1 Retail Park in Drogheda, Co Louth and the Poppyfield Retail Park in Clonmel, Co Tipperary. UK investment firm M&G also owns a stake in the properties., which were bought for €78 million during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The shortlisted bidders are California-based Realty Income Reit, French property funds Iroko Zen and Corum Asset Management and Luxembourg-based Sienna Investment Managers.
Belgard Retail Park has long been regarded as one of the foremost retail parks in the capital. Alongside its more recent addition of an EZ Living unit, the scheme is occupied by a range of leading retailers including B&Q, Home Store & More, Dealz, Carpet Right, Halfords, Right Style Furniture, Burger King and Starbucks.
File sent to DPP on Click.ie collapse
The Sunday Independent reports that An Garda Síochána’s fraud unit has sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) after carrying out an investigation into the collapse in 2018 of a company involved in the sale and repair of mobile phones, laptops and other devices.
Cantec Office Solutions Ltd, operating under the brand name Click.ie, was alleged by its liquidator to have been “trading recklessly” as it grappled with financial problems before its implosion.
The Navan, Co Meath-based company originally filed for examinership in early 2017, but succumbed to liquidation a year later. It employed almost 50 people at the time it filed for examinership.
The report said many customers had complained they had been left waiting for expensive phones and gadgets they had paid for but never received.
Primark faces US trial over ‘copycat’ UGG boots
Dublin-based Primark faces trial in the US over claims it illegally copied a style of UGG boot after a judge denied the retailer’s bid to have the case dismissed, the Sunday Independent reports.
The newspaper notes that the US arm of the retailer has been embroiled in a legal dispute with Deckers Outdoor Corporation, owner of the UGG boot brand in the country, over more than two years.
A Massachusetts judge has allowed Deckers to include surveys conducted by experts in the case, including one that found that almost three-quarters of people asked had associated the appearance of Primark’s boot with the UGG brand.
