Airline delays, IBM’s new jobs, and energy prices to remain high for five years

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

Airlines are concerned that delays in processing new background checks on aviation workers could impact on their operations. Photograph: Colin Keegan / Collins Dublin
Airlines are concerned that delays in processing new background checks on aviation workers could impact on their operations. Photograph: Colin Keegan / Collins Dublin

Around 40,000 air travel workers face extra background security checks this year under new laws that came into force last month. Barry O'Halloran reports.

IBM has announced plans to create 200 jobs across its Irish operations. These are in addition to over 400 hires made locally during the pandemic. Charlie Taylor has the details.

The Department of Justice warned that the global standing of Ireland and the Data Protection Commission were now so interdependent that nothing except a significant increase in staff and funding would help, writes Ken Foxe.

Kilkenny-based utility contracting company Gaeltec is to create 150 new jobs, with 60 of these roles focused on supporting Siro's €620 million upgrade to its fibre broadband network. Charlie Taylor has the details.

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In an interview with the Financial Times, Central Bank of Ireland governor Gabriel Makhlouf has said investors are wrong to bet on euro zone interest rates rising in June, predicting policymakers will be careful to avoid "killing off the recovery".

Energy prices could remain high for up to five years, our columnist Eoin Burke-Kennedy writes in a sobering column on the rising cost of living.

How much tax are people willing to pay to keep the pension age at 66? It's a question posed in our Opinion piece by Eddie Casey, chief economist of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council.

In Q&A, a reader wonders if the State can look for a repayment from her late mother's old age pension. Dominic Coyle offers some guidance.

Are you tired of a rising number of meetings? Financial Times columnist Emma Jacobs says we should just cull most of them.

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Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock

Ciarán Hancock is Business Editor of The Irish Times