Breakfast Business

  Waterways Ireland was set up as part of the Good Friday agreement to promote cross-border usage of our rivers and lakes. It manages navigation and recreation on the Shannon, the Erne, the Bann, and even the Grand Canal.  Now it’s got a 10-year plan to boost usage on these waterways.   John McDonagh the Chief Executive of Waterways Ireland spoke to Joe this morning about the 10-year plan.

Does your SME sell enough of its stuff online or does it predominantly depend on physical sales face to face?  The government and the EU are keen that all companies - no matter how big digitise their business. But sometimes that costs too much money and some owners are a bit scared of making the technological leap. Speaking to Joe this morning was Garrett Bridgeman is the MD of An Post Commerce. 

A run through of some of the business stories today with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

For years bankruptcy meant a financial life sentence for small business owners and little prospect of a second chance.  But it’s been almost 2 years since the introduction of the new Small Company Administrative Rescue Process - known as SCARP, which has radically simplified and shortened the insolvency process for SMEs.  Today the accountancy firm formerly known as Baker Tilly and now known as Azets published its SCARP index, which claims that 561 jobs have been saved as a direct result of the new scheme. Speaking to Joe this morning was Dessie Morrow Partner for Corporate Recovery with Azets. 

  It’s Romania’s national holiday today. The home of Transylvania, Georgi Hagi, Dracula, and Dacia cars is also Ireland’s 19th largest trading partner.  Trade between the 2 nations is worth €1.4bn.  Laurențiu Ştefan is the Romanian ambassador to Ireland joined Joe this morning.

A look at Friday's business news and markets with Joe Lynam and Aidan Donnelly from Davys.

Earlier this week we reported that pausing or blocking the construction of further data centres in Ireland would have a major economic impact on the future health of the economy.  The boss of one of the biggest data centre companies in Ireland Equinix, Peter Lantry said the own goal had already been kicked and the ball was about to hit the back of the net. Speaking to Joe this morning was Peter Lantry from Equinix.

The alphabet soup of new names in the world of renewable and affordable energy gets thicker and thicker.  You know LNG, you might know HVO and now we need to add Bio CNG to the list.   Bio-compressed Natural Gas is a type of methane that we get from food waste.  It could be one of the solutions needed to cut emissions on heavy goods vehicles and Flogas is building a major new CNG terminal at St Margarets in North Dublin. John Rooney, Managing Director of Flogas which is part of the DCC group joined Joe this morning on the show.

A look at today's business papers and websites with Joe Lynam.

Arklow Bank may not be a financial institution but it could be the source of wealth in energy terms for many years.  The shallow waters off the coast of Wicklow will be home to much of Ireland’s renewable energy wind farms and the company behind the project reckon it could even create more than a thousand jobs and nearly €5bn in spending over its lifetime. Joining Joe this morning was James O’Hara is the Director of the Arklow Bank Wind Park 2 Project which is part of the SSE Group.  

Hibernia is one of the largest property developers in Ireland with sites all over Dublin.  It’s currently redeveloping the former Garda HQ on Harcourt St but it’s also bringing draughty older buildings up to a much higher specification.  And lingering in the background is a notable downturn in the commercial property market here.  Joe spoke to Neil Menzies from Hibernia at their 1CP site which is home to Twitter and will be home to TikTok Europe as well.

A run through of some of the business stories today with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

 From the moment the clocks went back and the nights started drawing in, many of us started thinking about security and alarms.  And just as retailers prepare for the busy Christmas season, my next guest makes much of his new business in the Winter months.  Formerly known as telecom PhoneWatch, then Eircom PhoneWatch, and now just PhoneWatch, they almost have a monopoly in this country for monitored alarm systems. Joining Joe this morning to discuss the workings of the company was Eoin Dunne the chief executive of Phonewatch.

My next guest thinks there may be as many as 200,000 Irish people who have worked in the UK and be entitled to part or even a full British state pension. The deadline has been extended but the window to apply won't stay open forever.  Mel Morgan from the website UKStatePensionAbroad.com joined Joe this morning to discuss further. 

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

 A successful economy is built on many things:  education, natural resources, infrastructure, and government policies.  But it also thrives on confidence and there are fears that the disgraceful scenes on the streets of Dublin could dent that trust and confidence that this is a nice place to live. To discuss this further was David Broderick the Director of the Small Firms Association.

We discuss the huge role played by social media and technology in spreading disinformation and being difficult to tame.  Speaking to Joe this morning was Mike Harris the Partner for Forensics and Cyber with Grant Thornton.

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

We talked to a lot of entrepreneurs on this show and we like to think we support up-and-coming businesses. So when we spoke to Sam Moffat in Monaghan from Moffat Automated Storage over the summer, we knew he had a good business. And that was confirmed last night when he won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award. Sam joined Joe this morning on the show.

This week it was confirmed that PRSI will go up steadily over the next few years.  Ostensibly it's to pay to keep the state pension retirement age at 66 but in reality will cost workers and especially employers additional money.  It comes as auto-enrolment starts next year and compulsory holiday pay the burden of which will fall heavily on the shoulders of SMEs.  Joining Joe this morning was Neil McDonnell, Chief Executive of ISME which launches its Christmas Shop Local campaign today.