The Sunday Independent reports that the Labour Court is set to propose to Government a 5.6 per cent pay rise for construction workers, despite industry objections that employers are facing double-digit inflation. The Labour Court has reviewed pay in the sector after a request from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. The newspaper says the court has sent a report to Government recommending workers get a 2.8 per cent increase next February and a further, legally-binding increase of 2.8 per cent in 2023.
Mariah Carey’s trademark dispute
The Sunday Independent also reports that the Irish company in a trademark dispute with the makers of Mariah Carey's Black Irish cream liqueur says it has been told that a "company producing the liqueur for the singer will stop". Darker Still Spirits Company, the Irish company which says it owns the rights in Europe to the Black Irish name, says its whiskey-stout blend, which it trademarked a year before the release of Carey's liqueur, is to be rolled out to more Irish retailers.
Denis O’Brien criticises Facebook
The Sunday Times reports that Facebook has rejected criticism from businessman Denis O’Brien, who criticised the social web giant and Ireland’s role in facilitating its growth, in a lecture last week at Cambridge University. O’Brien accused the company of having an “amoral business model” over issues such as tax avoidance, and said Ireland’s welcome for the company was “regrettable”. Facebook told the Sunday Times it paid all taxes it owed and it also said it was involved in several internet connectivity projects in Africa, after O’Brien also criticised its role in the developing world.
HealthBeacon flotation
Health technology company HealthBeacon has hired Goodbody Stockbrokers to advise on a possible €100 million flotation by the end of the year, says the Sunday Times. It says the company's chief executive, Jim Joyce, told a Euronext event last month that HealthBeacon is taking the idea of an initial public offering "very seriously".
Gambling industry controls
The Sunday Times also reports that three former directors of Paddy Power have formed a pressure group lo lobby institutional investors and regulators to tighten controls on the gambling industry. Fintan Drury, its former chairman; Stewart Kenny, a former Paddy Power chief executive; and Ian Armitage, a former director of Paddy Power's first institutional backer, are calling for change.
Pubs’ insurance
FBD has been ordered by a regulator to make payments of “tens of thousands of euro” to publicans over pandemic losses, according to the Sunday Business Post. It says the company recently wrote to publicans after complaints to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman that some insurance payouts were being delayed.
