Corporation tax €2bn ahead of forecast, medicine shortages, and Deloitte adding 300 jobs in Cork

Corporation tax receipts are likely to exceed €26 billion this year, €2 billion more than the Department of Finance is currently forecasting, according to well-placed Government sources. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.

What do you do when a dud ex-colleague pops up and asks you for a reference to support a job application they are pursuing? Financial Times columnist Pilita Clark looks at the murky world of the job reference

The Government failed to spend €1 billion of the €4 billion earmarked for social and affordable housing projects last year, according to new figures. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the details.

Six in 10 people in the State have been affected by medicine shortages over the past year, according to research commissioned by Azure Pharmaceuticals. Laura Slattery examines the findings.

Student accommodation: A market plagued by bed shortages, rising rents and 51-week leases

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An attempt to buy the next election with a giveaway budget would be a gross miscalculation

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The outlook for interest rate cuts is changing - so should Irish borrowers be worried?

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IDA gives Intel €30m in aid package

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Deloitte Ireland will double its presence in Cork by adding 300 jobs as it establishes a new technology and analytics hub in the city and builds up its advisory capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI), the accounting firm has announced. Laura Slattery has the details.

With corporation tax receipts continuing to surge, the Government’s chief dilemma is how to justify huge budget surpluses when public services are so poor, writes our columnist Eoin Burke-Kennedy.

On a related topic, our Opinion piece this week is by Karen Frawley, a tax partner at Deloitte Ireland. She argues that a package of carefully targeted tax incentives for Irish SMEs could both turbocharge their growth and reduce our reliance on large multinationals.

In Me & My Money, Polly Doyle, founder of Polly & Andy Socks, tells Tony Clayton-Lea that “it’s a privilege to not have to worry about where my next meal is coming from”.

If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money, the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers.

More than 300 students from rural schools and clubs have taken part in the first Microsoft Dream Space showcase in Dublin to showcase their science, technology, engineering and maths-based projects. Ciara O’Brien has the details.

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