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House price growth eases, Royal London to offer pensions here, and Tesco’s Irish food exports

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

The salad section in Tesco's store in Artane, Dublin. The British group exports €870 million in Irish food and drink to the company's stores outside the State. Photograph: Naoise Culhane

Ciarán Hancock's face
Ciarán Hancock
Mon Sep 26 2022 - 06:34

Housing prices were stable in the third quarter as supply improved, especially in Dublin and the rest of Leinster, according to a report by property website Daft, with the average price listed on the site standing at €311,514. This was up just 0.1 per cent on the average for the second quarter of 2022. Laura Slattery has the details.

Royal London Ireland has become the first new pension provider in the Irish market for more than a decade and the first life assurance company to enter the pensions market here in more than 30 years. The Dublin-based subsidiary of the UK’s Royal London Mutual Insurance Society is making a multimillion euro investment here by launching a range of pension products that will be available through financial brokers. Laura Slattery reports.

Men who pay to have their legs broken for a few more inches in height are not being entirely irrational. But nor are they being remotely sensible. The cost and risks of leg-lengthening far outweigh the probable financial and career benefits of being slightly taller, writes FT columnist Pilita Clark.

Tesco purchases €1.6 billion in Irish food and drink annually, making it the single largest retail buyer of such goods in the world, according to an analysis commissioned by the supermarket chain from economic consultants Indecon. Laura Slattery goes through the numbers.

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In our personal finance Q&A, a reader has been told by their lender that their mortgage interest rate will increase to 5.75 per cent from 4.5 per cent. Is there anything they can do to secure a lower rate? Dominic Coyle gives his view.

In our weekly opinion piece, Dermot Twomey, president of the Irish Pharmacy Union says the Department of Health and HSE should support pharmacies here to treat minor ailments and provide additional medicine services, thereby freeing up GPs to spend more time with patients on more serious conditions.

Biopharmaceutical company Ipsen Ireland has upgraded its manufacturing site in Blanchardstown in west Dublin after a €52 million investment, writes Laura Slattery.

Dividends paid out at the golf promotions firm owned by LIV tour golf member Graeme McDowell last year declined to $475,000 from more than $2 million in 2020, according to latest accounts filed for the firm. Gordon Deegan reports.

Irish economic sentiment has declined further in September, with the prospect of higher energy bills weakening consumer confidence and businesses flagging concerns about basic infrastructure, the latest Bank of Ireland index shows. Laura Slattery has the details.

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