The introduction of a second tier, means-tested child benefit payment would involve the replacement of some existing supports and could lead to some lower-income households losing out financially, the Tax Strategy Group (TSG) papers suggest. Marin Wall reports.
Staying with the TSG papers, Cliff Taylor tells us that the income tax dilemma faced by the Government in framing October’s budget is underlined in the key pre-budget papers, which say that indexing tax bands and credits for inflation would cost over €1 billion.
And on the same subject Barry O’Halloran says that boosting betting tax in the budget would raise up to an extra €53 million a year for the State, according to Department of Finance officials, while Michael McAleer informs us that a 1 per cent increase in the higher rates of Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) is one of the budget options outlined by the TSG papers.
The European Union is pushing for any future tariffs on pharmaceutical products sold to the United States to be capped at a blanket 15 per cent rate, in ongoing trade negotiations with US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Pharmaceutical products have emerged as one potential sticking point in intense EU-US negotiations to land a tariff agreement in the next eight days. Jack Power reports from Luxembourg.
An Coimisiún Pleanála has given the green light for plans to demolish a Smyth’s pub on Haddington Road and replace it with a bar and apartments despite locals’ fears of a ‘superpub’ being developed. Gordon Deegan reports.
How will the updated National Development Plan shape Ireland in years to come?
October’s budget is quickly coming into focus, with the Government publishing a key pre-budget document, the Summer Economic Statement, this week. And Ministers face a string of key decisions about the shape of the package, which will have implications for voters’ pockets.
Voters have got used to giveaway budgets. But despite budget measures of €9.4 billion being signalled, the benefits to households could be significantly less. Here are the big calls facing the Cabinet from Cliff Taylor.
In terms of pay, 2024 was a bumper year for the 21 long-standing bosses of the largest Irish publicly-quoted companies, driven by large bonuses paid by companies that exited the Dublin market and moved their primary listings to New York, writes Joe Brennan in Agenda.
Figures compiled by The Irish Times show that their average pay package rose by 31 per cent to €4.36 million last year.
The median chief executive compensation package, which gives a better picture of the pay landscape as it eliminates the distorting effects of outliers on the pay scales, rose by 16 per cent to €2.53 million. That’s 56 times the median salary in Ireland, of about €45,000.
We profile four of the eight finalists in the emerging category for this year’s EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards. The finalists will vie to become EY Entrepreneur of the Year at a ceremony later this year. The four are: Alan Doyle of Aerlytix; Eddie Dillon of CreditLogic; Aidan O’Shea and Hilary O’Shea of Otonomee and Caitriona Ryan and Niki Ralph of The Institute of Dermatologists
In our Friday column Brooke Masters looks at the issue of Donald Trump, Coca-Cola and cane sugar. Last Wednesday, the US president posted on Truth Social that Coca-Cola had agreed to change the domestic formula of its namesake drink to feature “REAL Cane Sugar” rather than high-fructose corn syrup. The company patently was not ready. But six days later it finally confirmed it would launch a US cane sugar cola in the autumn.
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