Breakfast Business

Business Editor Joe Lynam takes a look through some of today's business stories and market news.

Unemployment in Ireland is back to pre-pandemic low levels.  So much so that we hear of bottlenecks (e.g. Dublin airport) and shortages of all types of labour.  But in light of soaring inflation, and interest rates set to rise rapidly, are things changing in the hiring markets. Barry Whelan is the chief executive of Excel recruitment and he spoke to Joe Lynam on the show.

Bosch is one of the world's most famous engineering giants but like everyone, they have to adapt to a new world without carbon and using renewable energy. They are designing hydrogen engines for trucks these days and have opened a centre of excellence in Limerick to work on the driverless cars of the future. Joe Lynam spoke to the managing director of Bosch UK and Ireland Vonjy Rangakoba and began by asking him about that facility in County Limerick.

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

We all know that the strategic challenge of shifting to renewable energy is how and where to store energy that has been created by wind, solar or wave, or other types of renewable. Battery storage is one of the key challenges. With me now is a company that advises other giant companies on how you can go about storing renewables. Paul Carson is the boss of Strategic Power projects  and he spoke to Joe Lynam.

Many of us have become accustomed to falling retail prices and almost disposable fashion. Of course, it’s great for your wallet but not great for the environment or even the people that make the cheap clothes that we like to wear. In order to make retailers in Ireland more conscious of their environment and their supply chains, The government is introducing a $.20 charge on disposable coffee cups. But retailers think it’s the wrong signal on sustainability. Duncan Graham from Retail Excellence joined Joe Lynam on the show.

In Ireland people can access medicinal cannabis to treat chronic pain but you can be arrested for possession if you use it for recreational purposes.  That’s the case in most European countries but certainly not in the US.  18 US states have now decriminalised cannabis - with New Jersey being the latest.  When we spoke to Governor Phil Murphy on this show he told us that the tax revenues will eventually be substantial for his state.  Irishman Patrick McCartan who runs Regennabis which is at the focal point worldwide for the cannabis industry spoke to Joe Lynam.

We’ve covered the circular economy a few times on this show.  This is where products are deliberately designed to be reused and not simply thrown away.  Smartphones aren't yet designed for that but an industry is developing to refurbish and resell mobiles and I went to find out more this week in Dublin. 

Before the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, few people in Western Europe at least gave much thought to further EU enlargement and other countries wanting to join the bloc. But now that war has reached our continent again, admitting new members has become a live issue. But should we? Ian Bond is a director at the CER and joined Joe on Breakfast Business this morning.

Planning permission has been granted this week to create some of the biggest infrastructures to harness on and off shore wind power in Ireland. Once constructed in County Wicklow, the new distribution facility will link the proposed wind farm just off the coast of Arklow. Is this the start of the green revolution that we have been waiting for? Barry Kilcline, Director of Offshore Development Ireland at SSE Renewables  joined Joe on the show this morning.

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

Technology may be the biggest single component of the Irish economy but financial services are probably the third biggest part. But its reputation hasn't fully recovered from the calamity of the financial crisis nor helped by tracker mortgage scandals in recent years nor by the fact that banks here charge twice the eurozone for mortgage interest rates. All issues for the new Director of Financial Services Ireland (FSI) Group, Patricia Callan who spoke to Joe on Breakfast Business this morning.

Food production is a vital part of the Irish economy though far less important than it was 30 years ago. But with a war disrupting distribution, self-reliance on food - especially dairy products has become more salient. The Irish Dairy board reckons that food could be the new gold and that’s why they've rebranded as Or Nua meaning ‘new gold’ John Jordan is the Chief executive of Ornua joined Joe this morning on the show.

Business Editor Joe Lynam takes a look through some of today's business stories and market news.

India has declined to impose sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine and pitted itself against America and the West. Are they being foolish or very clever? For more on this Joe spoke to Krish Nandakumar is a Harvard-educated India-born International lawyer specialising in South Asian affairs, currently completing master's in international relations from DCU.

Dublin airport is probably the single most important piece of infrastructure in Ireland. But do we have a bigger, wider problem with our infrastructure and why can we not build the so-called ‘grand projects? Colm Mccarthy is one of the most renowned and respected economists in Ireland and someone who has written many reports for governments and Colm spoke to Joe on the show this morning.

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

A new experiment aims to measure how much more engagement the right accent can get from ad viewers Shane Brennan, Creative Director, FOE joined Gavin this morning to discuss.

As the ECB gears up to hike interest rates in July, what will be the impact on mortgage brokers and what should borrowers do? For more on this Gavin spoke to Joe Sheahan, Head Of Credit at MyMortgages.ie.

Deputy Business Editor Gavin McLoughlin takes a look at this mornings business stories and markets.