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Housebuilding surges, hospitality on the brink, and the business headshot

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

Housebuilding set to hit highest level since before financial crisis. Photograph: Bloomberg

Colin Gleeson's face
Colin Gleeson
Mon Sep 12 2022 - 07:20

Roughly 28,000 new homes are expected to be built in the Republic this year despite the dampening effects of inflation and the increasingly uncertain macroeconomic outlook, a new report has forecast. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.

The level of red tape attached to State-backed funding and grant schemes in the Republic is deterring most businesses from applying, while access to various tax incentives is described as poor. A survey of entrepreneurs and founder-led enterprises by employers’ group Ibec has highlighted what it said were a number of key barriers to progressing the business.

Elsewhere, spiralling energy and food costs have pushed many hospitality businesses close to the brink of collapse, according to a new report. The study, commissioned by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland, said soaring energy prices posed the biggest problem for firms in the sector.

In a sign of the times, the cost-of-living crisis has overtaken housing as the biggest concern for people in advance of this month’s budget. A new survey has found about 35 per cent of people now believe combating inflation should be the main priority of the Government.

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There is more trouble brewing for Irish businesses, which are preparing for disruption from a planned strike at Liverpool port, which will coincide with the funeral of Queen Elizabeth on September 19th. More than 560 dock workers are set to walk out for two weeks in a dispute over pay and conditions at the Peel Ports owned hub.

The headshot is occupying the mind of columnist Pilita Clark this morning, who argues in her column there are unsettling signs it is being taken far more seriously than it ought to be. More than a million people update their profile pictures on LinkedIn each week, she says.

Finally, in our Opinion slot, NCS chief executive Neil Phelan suggests that while cybersecurity is a major issue right now, it won’t be in two years’ time as it will be baked into technology going forward.

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