Brexit bill; Facebook woes; digital tax; and more court hearings for the Quinn family

A hard Brexit could raise the cost of living for Irish households by 3.1 per cent, or close to €1,400 a year, according to a new ESRI report published today. And lower income households would fare even worse, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy.

Someone else taking a hit is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg as his company's shares continue to fall in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica controversy. Stock in the social media group has now dropped by close to 9 per cent over the past two days. That has put a $7.4 billion dent in Zuckerberg's fortune – on paper at least.

The European Commission is scheduled to publish its plans for digital taxation today. Ahead of that, European Council president Donald Tusk warned European leaders that their current tax systems are no longer fit for purpose in the digital age. Paddy Smyth reports from Brussels.

Back in Dublin, a High Court judge has said that it is "almost certain" that the family of the former billionaire Sean Quinn were behind an elaborate scheme used to extract $12.5 million (€10.18 million) from a company in India.

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Separately, in the High Court yesterday, a judge deferred ruling on whether Sean Quinn jnr and his wife should receive €10,500 in arrears of living expenses to see how Mr Quinn deals with the sale of two properties he owns. Mary Carolan reports that Mr Justice Haughton also advised Mr Quinn to talk to his father about getting paid for his current "part-time" role as CEO of the new family business, QuinnBet.

Ryanair has bought an airline for the first time in 15 years, taking a stake in Niki Lauda's LaudaMotion. Barry O'Halloran and Fiona Reddan report that it has acquired an initial 24.9 per cent stake in what was part of the former Air Berlin group and will increase this to 75 per cent if it gets expected competition clearance.

Ireland's new central credit register went live yesterday but it appears to have as many gaps as the Irish Credit Bureau database it is intended to replace - or more. So what's it all about? Fiona Reddan has the details.

In Commercial Property, Jack Fagan writes that the building housing the well-known Knobs and Knockers business in Nassau Street is on the market, as is the Tesco store building in College Green.

And finally... we have some way to go to return to the good old days, if sales of champagne are anything to go by. Figures from the French supervisor of such things says the Irish drank nearly 475,000 bottles of bubbly last year. That's 10 per cent down on the previous year and less than half the Celtic Tiger peak, writes Fiona Reddan.