Breakfast Business

The EU Commission is launching the Savings and Investment Union to encourage more of us to put our unused money into European companies.  But to do so will require major cross border legislation and a serious change in the Savings mindset. Joe spoke to the EU’s Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luis Albuquerque and began by asking her what the Savings and Investment Union is.

Patrick Cotter started in the fruit markets in Dublin aged 14 and graduated into the telecoms sector by putting wifi on buses and coaches.  Now he’s just been bought out of his latest venture: Rural Wifi. He’s a former winner of the ‘Newstalk Business Person of the Month’ and the boss of Fleet Connect.Patrick talked all things business with Joe this morning.

Thursday business news headlines with Joe Lynam.

Donald Trump told the UN last week that climate change and decarbonisation were the greatest frauds of the 21st century. But the business and scientific community have totally ignored him including Darren Sherry who runs a company that prepares land for the installation of turbines as well as fixing them if they break down. Darren Sherry, the CEO of Galetech joined Joe this morning on the show.

Differing customs, languages, currencies and product standards make it tricky.  Add in the fact that the Euro is 11% more expensive against the dollar since January and a global trade and tariff war as well as the threat of cut-price dumping on your home markets and you’ll see what Irish exporters have on their plate.  All of these topics will be on the table at Enterprise Ireland’s International markets week. Speaking to Joe was Jenny Melia, the new Chief Executive of Enterprise Ireland.

The tiny island of Bermuda in the North Atlantic is home to some of the largest insurance and reinsurance companies in the world. They pay for much of the Bermudan economy which has the fourth highest GDP per capita in the world on paper. Very large companies based in Bermuda had paid a cool 0% corporation tax until January this year when the new 15% rate was introduced in line with the OECD reforms.  Ordinary companies still pay zero Corporation tax.David Burt is the Premier and Finance Minister of Bermuda and is visiting Ireland and attending the European Insurance forum.

Business news headlines review with Joe Lynam.

The Irish Management Institute is worried that senior Irish executives are falling behind their international rivals because they lack some of the leadership attributes to drive competitiveness.   It also believes those charged with Change management are being increasingly overburdened with all sorts of responsibilities nowadays and is hosting a conference about leadership attributes on Thursday in Sandyford. All to discuss with  Shane O’Sullivan of the Chief Executive of the IMI. 

Merck has been active in Ireland for decades making products for hospital environments as well as life sciences.  Now Merck Group, which is based in Germany  and not to be confused with the American company of the same name, says that it will be creating the world’s first climate neutral manufacturing facility in Cork.  It comes as all pharma giants are being pressured to move their plants to America. Mark Dunphy, Managing Director and Head of Cork Operations, Merck Life Science, Ireland. 

Tuesday's business news review with Joe Lynam.

Just over a week ago, Heathrow and Brussels were among a slew of European airports disabled by a cyber-attack. The origins of the attack aren’t clear but fingers point at Russia. It takes a lot of effort and resources to take down Europe’s busiest airport but that is what these fraudsters and criminals apparently have. So, what can smaller companies do in the face of these attacks? Gavin Millard, VP of Intelligence at Tenable joined Joe Lynam on the show.

The proposed Digital Euro gives spending power for those without banks and to have a Currency which bypasses the giant American card companies such as Visa and American Express. It’s only an idea at the moment but we could all be spending digital euros before the end of the decade. But do we need it? Atze Faas is a payments adviser to EuroCommerce which represents Europe’s retailers and joined Joe Lynam on the show this morning.

Kathleen Brooks from XTB looks at today's business news headlines along with Joe Lynam.

Personal consumption accounts for 27% of Irish GDP.  Stripping out the multinational sector, that figure zooms to around 60% of Modified domestic demand.  That’s bigger than any one sector in the economy and so the mood of the consumer really matters.  The latest survey for the Credit Unions suggests that the consumer is in ‘watch and worry’ mode given the bigger geopolitical turbulence out there. The economist Austin Hughes compiles the report for the Credit Unions and joined Joe this morning.

Elis is a company that provides the garments and gowns to prevent any human matter from getting into the clean room for giants such as Intel.   His garments don't shed nor have any loose fibres and are cleaned after each use. Bernard Flynn of Elis, Cleanroom and he is the Repak Green Business Person Of The Month for September. 

Kate English - Deloitte looks at today's business news headlines along with Joe Lynam.

Thursday's business news headlines along with Joe Lynam.

Although less onerous than feared, the new 15% tariff regime represents a clear deterioration in Ireland’s trading environment.  Despite that, Irish growth as measured by Modified Domestic Demand is set to be a robust 3.8% this year but slip back to 2.9% in 2026.  They are among the views in the latest quarterly economy report from the ESRI think tank, which also has a deep dive into Ireland’s pharmaceutical sector whose Irish corporation tax receipts could be in jeopardy. All to discuss with Dr Conor O’Toole from the ESRI. 

Dell is worried that Ireland is set to miss the boat when it comes to providing the infrastructure for the AI revolution including grid connections, water supply and even good old fashioned planning permission. This is a stark warning from one of the biggest tech companies in the world and comes as corporate America invests a trillion dollars on AI infrastructure and nuclear powered data centres. But do we have to copy them? Joe discusses this further with Jason Ward, EMEA North  Vice-President and Managing Director of Dell Technologies Ireland. 

In 2023 the Supreme Court made a key ruling in the employment space which makes it much tougher for freelancers to have arms length contracts with the company from which they earn most of their income. Now the Revenue has set until January for employers to get their contract labour onto regular PAYE contracts. It’s a big shakeup especially for so-called gig economy workers.All to discuss with Deirdre Malone, Head of Employment Law at EY Ireland.