Breakfast Business

The arrival of AI means quite a few white collar jobs will become redundant in the very near future.  It also means that those who work with their hands such as Tradesmen will be way more in demand.  Chris Moran  is in the final shakeup for the Screwfix Tradesperson of the Year and he’s very worried about the number of young people going into the trades he joined Joe to discuss

Public procurement involves governments advertising to companies, encouraging them to apply or tender for State-backed contracts.  It could be to provide services or to build a road or a hospital.  The sums involved can reach into the billions, and because taxpayer value is at the heart of the process, the government wants as many companies to bid for contracts as possible.  That’s why it’s organising a big procurement conference in 2 months.  Emer Higgins is the junior minister with special responsibility for Public Procurement and is the driving force behind the expo and she joined Joe this morning to discuss.

It's time to dig out your wellies for the National Ploughing Championships. But a new study from the consultants Ifac suggests that tariffs and geopolitics mean that a record 44% of food producers are pausing investment . Despite 80% feeling very positive about their own company’s outlook All to discuss with David Leydon, Group Head of Growth and Agrifood Consulting at Ifac. 

Tuesday's business news review along with Joe Lynam.

They used to be known as industrial estates but given very few of them physically make stuff these days, they’re now known as business districts.  And Sandyford in south Dublin is the biggest in employment terms in the State housing as it does the likes of Microsoft, MasterCard and the Beacon hospital.  Now the SBD wants to copy the highly successful Station F in Paris to attract the next generation of technology wizards.  To chat more Joe spoke to Ger Corbett, chief executive of the Sandyford biz district. 

Solid Fuel Merchants Ireland has warned that fuel smuggling and courier-dropped pallets are now at an all-time high, threatening rural jobs and depriving the exchequer of vital revenue.  Joining Jonathan to discuss more was Colin Ahern, Chair of Solid Fuel Merchants Ireland. 

More than a quarter of Irish adults still have no financial arrangements at all for their retirement, according to new research published today by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. All to discuss with Grainne Griffin, Director of Communications at the CCPC. 

The ACORNS programme has been designed to support early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland and runs over six months part-time.  It is centered around interactive round table sessions that are facilitated by female entrepreneurs, known as ‘Lead Entrepreneurs’, who have started and successfully grown businesses in rural Ireland.  Among those Lead Entrepreneurs is Geraldine Jones founder and Chief Executive of Skin Formulas,

Energy costs, global uncertainty and labour shortages are the top concerns for Irish businesses, in a new survey from Irish B2B telecommunications provider IP Telecom, whose Chief Commercial Officer Robin Russell joined Emmet this morning on the show.

Ireland has an almost unreachable target of getting 80% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.  That includes wind and solar but will also include Biomethane which is energy created from such delightful things as agricultural waste, food scraps, sewage sludge and manure. Later this morning Flogas will sign a major biomethane offtake agreement with Nephin Renewable Gas in Ballinrobe Co Mayo.But will it produce enough electricity and will it face objections? Speaking to Joe this morning was Tom O’Brien is Group Chief Executive of Nephin Energy.

The vast majority of corporation tax receipts come from a handful of American companies based here. It’s because of that overdependence and the increasingly unreliable behaviour of the American administration, that small businesses need to be encouraged and fostered to avoid what ISME refers to as “sleepwalking into economic peril“. The Small Business lobby group also wants a so called “reset on the national minimum wage calculation” All to discuss with Neil McDonnell the Chief Executive of ISME. 

Joe Lynam brings us Thursday's business news headlines.

Only this week it emerged that investing in startups in Ireland had dropped to a 10 year low despite surging savings rates and wealth levels.  The financial services sector wants the government to do a lot more in next month's budget to prize open those wallets and invest in indigenous companies.  Financial services Ireland says we need a lot more education about investing and to change to the tax system to link savings to supporting startups. All to discuss with Patricia Callan the Chief Executive of Financial Services Ireland.  

The French Government debt to GDP stands at 113% in the Eurozone’s second largest economy and the budget deficit is at an unsustainable 5.8%.  But any efforts to cut that debt mountain or curb entitlements have been met with violent and sustained protests on French streets.  So what can be done to avoid La Grande nation from going cap in hand to the IMF for a bailout?    Timothy Graf, Head of Macro Strategy for EMEA at State Street Market 

Wednesday's business news review along with Joe Lynam.

A unicorn is an unlisted start up with an actual or strong potential to be worth more than $1billion. We don't have many here in Ireland, 9 according to TracXn including Workhuman, Lets Get Checked and TransferMate. But according to my next guest Irish unicorn owners and owners of smaller start-ups are selling out 12 times faster than they are being created and with that control and IP usually leaving the country. Alan Coleman, from Wolfgang Digital joined Joe Lynam on the show.

Identity theft is a surging problem. Fraudsters only need a few bits of detail about you, much of which is available anyway on your social media feeds. Once they get it they can open up new accounts in your name to prevent this the security software company Entrust works with Mastercard and other card providers using something called its identity verification security platform. But with criminals getting very clever and AI speeding up fraud, are the good guys merely catching up with the baddies?  Minh Nguyen, Vice President of Product Identity Verification at Entrust joined Joe Lynam on the show this morning.

Joe takes a look at Tuesday's business new headlines.

Revolut claims it has at least 3 million customers in Ireland. That’s most adults in this country and the reason is the ease with which customers can set up an account and make payments to friends, family and even total strangers. The Irish banks have long considered creating some sort of easy-pay rival, and now they think they might have it.  The new service, which will start in a few months will be called Zippay and it potentially brings in all the banks and doesn't require a new app or to upload anything. The 3 pillar banks have signed up and Revolut is free to do so too but one wonders whether it would bother.Brian Hayes, Chief Executive of the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland, joined Joe Lynam on the show to discuss the new financial product and the other challenges facing the banks.

Russ Mould from AJ Bell takes a look at the main business news stories along with Joe Lynam.