Breakfast Business

We take a look at today's business papers and markets.

The most controversial FIFA world cup ever starts this weekend in Qatar - a tiny country which never even qualified before this. The stadiums have been built on the backs of thousands of poorly paid labourers from South Asia and an estimated 6000 of them died making them. Speaking to Joe this morning to discuss the moral cost of Qatar was Michael Hershman who has been involved in 4 or 5 world cups along with olympics and super bowls. He was a former advisor to Fifa and was on FIFA's independent governance committee. He’s also a co-founder of Transparency International and a member of the team that wrote the first comprehensive reform plan for FIFA in 2014 and he's the former CEO and current advisory board member of the International Center for Sports Security in Qatar.

A windfall tax on energy companies, house prices to fall, local property taxes to rise by 5% and a forecast that living standards will fall by 7%. It’s not the Budget in Ireland from 2010 but the emergency budget in the UK in 2022. It’s all designed to undo some of the damage done by the last budget in Sept by the ill fated Liz Truss. For more on what the UK budget Joe spoke to Paul Kavanagh from Patronus Partners.

Business Editor Joe Lynam takes a look at today's business papers and markets with Aidan Donnelly from Davys.

The family-owned Maxol group of petrol forecourt has posted a profit of €27 million for last year – a rise of 57% on the previous year as the company bounced back strongly from lockdowns. It has also announced an investment plan of €100 million to transform itself from a petrol and diesel-based business into a retail and licensing business– With a focus on fossil free recharging. Speaking to Joe this morning was Brian Donaldson - the boss of Maxo.l

As we face a precarious winter with soaring energy costs, the Energy watchdog in Ireland – the CRU – pays energy storage companies to store up capacity just in case there is a problem with other sources of energy such as coal or gas. But electric storage Ireland which represents those companies that store electricity in large batteries, think that they should be allowed release that stockpile of energy back into the grid to get prices down for consumers. Bobby Smith - Head Energy storage Ireland spoke to Joe this morning.

Business Editor Joe Lynam takes a run through of some of the business stories today.

Twitter cut its workforce by around 50%, Meta by 13%, Intercom also by 13% and Amazon looks set to lower its headcount by 3% this week. These are just some of the cuts that are happening - but the key question is - is this a correction due to over-hiring during the pandemic or is there something else at play? Joining Joe Lynam and Jess Kelly on this special show looking at Ireland's technology sector is the former Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald who is now an MEP and based in Brussels, Daryl Hanberry is the Technology Partner with Deloitte and serial entrepreneur DC Calahane from Dog Labs and Republic of Cork.

Along with Joe Lynam, Newstalk Technology Correspondent Jess Kelly takes a run-through of some of the technology stories today.

The war in Ukraine tore up the assumption that there would never again be a land conflict in Europe. It’s just one of the many geopolitical assumptions that we will need to rethink. There are many more. Janan Ganesh is the Associate Editor at the FT spoke to Joe this morning on the show.

We take a look at one sector which is often neglected for its cultural and economic contribution: food production and agriculture. The Farmers Journal has put out a new study going through the economic value of more remote parts of the country, making for interesting reading. Lorcan Roche Kelly - Agribusiness Editor at the Irish Farmers Journal joined Joe this morning on the show.

A run-through of some of the business stories today with Joe Lynam.

It’s the one business that few of us wish to talk about but one which will be needed by all of us at some point. Masseys is one of the best-known funeral directors in Ireland and now they've launched a new bespoke funeral pre-planning service. Mary Cunniffe, from Masseys Bros and My Farewell Wishes joined Joe on the show to tell him about the new service.

Energy is very much en vogue these days with the giant upstream oil companies earning hundreds of billions of Euros in profits this year. For energy trading companies i.e. the people who act as middlemen between the oil producers and the end users - it’s been a mixed bag. The smallest ones have struggled because they didn't have enough cash to buy large amounts of gas. Ronan Doherty is the Chief Executive and founder of Electro Route which is expanding here and in the Far East and Ronan spoke to Joe this morning.

Joe Lynam takes a look at some of the business stories in today's business newspapers and websites.

Advanced Clinical is a rapidly growing business that serves the biopharmaceutical industry across the US, Europe, Asia Pacific, and now Ireland. The Dublin office will serve as a strategic hub for clinical research and strategic resourcing services while providing business opportunities due to the proximity of local pharmaceutical, biotech, and medtech businesses.

The world is heading into recession. But what are the people who have the most money doing with that money? All questions for Europe’s biggest fund manager John O’Toole, Head of Multi-Asset Fund Solutions with Amundi spoke to Joe with more on this.

A look at today's business papers and markets with Business Editor Joe Lynam.

WAZP is a company which specialises in 3-D printing which physically creates objects by adding minuscule layers upon layers until the final object is built, usually using a polymer. The company is based in Tralee in Kerry and they already have major clients such as IKEA and Logitech. Shane Hasset is the boss of WAZP and he joined Joe on the show this morning.

Aonghus Shortt is the founder of FoodMarble.com and he has invented the world's first personal digestive breath tester and app which helps people personalise their diet and overcome common, but hard-to-treat, digestive conditions like IBS, bloating, etc. Aonghus joined Joe this morning on the show to explain more about his business.