Breakfast Business

Directors are now personally responsible for some of the actions that their company takes in some sectors and the days of megalomaniac Chief Executive‘s and chairs appear to be over. In fact, such are the responsibilities on boards that there’s a new diploma course being taught by the Law Society. Speaking to Joe this morning was Gerard Ryan and he’s Head of Corporate at Eversheds Sutherland and teaching the new Diploma in Director Skills and Duties.

Monday's big business stories along with Joe Lynam and Kathleen Brooks from XTB.

Last week the OECD said that the Irish economy was robust and the outlook better than many European counterparts.  As usual the report also highlighted well known issues including capacity constraints and soaring spending.  So what does the OECD worry about when it comes to this country? Speaking to Joe this morning was Müge Adalet McGowan is an Economist on Structural Policy Analysis with the OECD in Paris .

Friday's business news and markets along with Joe Lynam and Aidan Donnelly from Davys.

It’s not easy to become a major player in technology when you're miles from the big urban centres but that’s what Fexco has done in Killorglin in Co Kerry.  Today the Fexco-owned RDI hub or research, development and innovation hub marks its 5th anniversary. It has channelled €250m in investment and created a regional hub in the South West of the country. Today it launched a new regional community alongside Enterprise Ireland.    Liam Cronin is the chief executive with Fexco’s RDI Hub in Killorglin joined Joe on the show this morning.

On Wednesday night Nvidia posted an 80% jump in quarterly profits.  People have become used to that AI chip developer surpassing expectations. But the backdrop to that is the arrival of the Chinese AI search engine Deepseek which shook up the entire sector. So was the panic which was caused by Deepseek over done or is this death kick of US AI and the trillions that is expected to be injected into the sector? To discuss further Joe spoke to Newstalk Technology Correspondent Jess Kelly,All with thanks to PwC. 

Thursday's business news headlines along with Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Repak has been around since 1997 way before climate change policies and the Green deal were ever heard of.  The idea was to get companies that produce a lot of packaging to think long and hard about how the packaging gets disposed of once the customer is finished with the product.  Repak was around well before many of its similar agencies were established in Europe. Joining Joe this morning in studio was Gary Browne a Packaging Technologist, with Repak which is sponsoring the Green Business person of the Month. 

As we all know, there’s a race to harness AI for economic advantage.  But could paying a compliment to your colleague help make the entire business more successful? An Irish company- originally from Tallaght called WorkHuman has launched a new product called Human Intelligence and claims it will make AI in the workplace far more human.  And it’s a lot to do with how staff members interact with each other. Speaking to Joe this morning was Jonathan Hyland is Chief Technology Officer with WorkHuman. 

In our highly connected world where it’s not unusual to have dozens of devices using the internet at any one time in many households. The biggest scourge is often not broadband speeds but the so-called ‘Not spots’  - those corners of the house which wifi can't reach.  Eir claims that its latest wifi technology called wifi 7 may have solved that conundrum. Speaking to Joe this morning on the show was Susan Brady Managing Director of Consumer and small business with Eir - and began by asking about its new concept of Wide-fi.  

Wednesday's business news headlines along with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Tuesday's business news headlines with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Every day is a Musk news day. Meanwhile sales of his Tesla cars once prized among the emerging middle class have plummeted by up to 75% in some European nations as would-be owners are frightened away by his lurch to the far right.  So what is eating Elon Musk? To discuss Joe spoke to Liz Carolan is the publisher of theBriefing.ie the newsletter about technology and politics, through an Irish lens. 

On the 3rd anniversary of the invasion EU foreign ministers agreed a 16th package of sanctions against Russia targeting oil shipments this time.  But previous sanctions have not collapsed the Russian economy in 3 years, then why bother with even more?And what happens if the US unilaterally lifts sanctions, but Europe doesn't? All to discuss with David O’Sullivan the EU’s Special envoy for monitoring sanctions on Russia. 

Russ Mould from AJ Bell joined Joe this morning to run through Monday's business headlines.

The centre right CDU party won the most seats in the German election yesterday with the far right AFD party second on just over 20% percent. Now the question is who the CDU leader Friederich Merz will form a coalition government with in order to kick start a moribund economy,Europe’s most important. But the backdrop to this vote is the awful anniversary of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine exactly 3 years ago and the geopolitical upheaval of Donald Trump.  So to discuss what all this means for the European economy Joe spoke to Monika Bickauskaite-Aleliune formerly with the German Marshall Fund and currently the public policy director at the Key Elements Group along with Matthew Karnitschnig The Editor In chief of Euractiv. 

Germany goes to the polls and the backdrop could not be starker for Europe’s largest country.  The economy appears to be in an unstoppable economic slide and the postwar geopolitical stability appears to be unwinding with the threat of war rising.  So what will Germans do and what sort of coalition can be cobbled together to right the ship? Managing Director of Cantor Fitzgerald in Frankfurt Michael Harbisch joined Joe this morning on the show.

Kate English from Deloitte  joined Joe this morning to look at the markets and to discuss the latest business news.

Live sports streaming is up 50% over the past 4 years. Recording and downloading Podcasts are also up dramatically in that time. But so too are download speeds.  Now Virgin Media is upping the ante by introducing the fastest ever broadband for Irish homes and small businesses:  5 Gigabits per second. Joe caught up with Paul Higgins, Virgin Media’s Vice President of Consumer.

There has been a princely 1 hour of sunshine on the East coast over the past 11 days.  If that wouldn't make you want to move to a sunny Atlantic island, perhaps a corporation tax rate of only 4% might.  That’s the attractive new headline rate if your business meets the criteria to set up in a special industrial zone.    Joining Joe this morning was Catherine Noone former Senator and now Chair of the Lanzarote Ireland Network.