Salaries to surge; mortgage lending record; and €500m return on property investment

Salaries in certain sectors of the Irish jobs market will rise by up to 10 per cent this year, according to recruitment group Morgan McKinley. Those with in demand niche skills might even secure increases of double that, writes Laura Slattery. The agency says as many as 80 per cent of workers are open to moving jobs in the year ahead.

Banks approved record amounts of mortgage lending last November, according to new data released this morning. However, the actual number of mortgage loans approved fell that month. Joe Brennan has the details.

Used car prices have jumped 56 per cent on average over the last two years, according to a report by online marketplace Donedeal. Motoring editor Michael McAleer writes that Brexit and a chip shortage are among the factors driving prices higher.

The "forecasts of doom" surrounding the UK departure from the EU have lifted and there is now "a lot of optimism" among Irish exporters in terms of the business to be done there, Enterprise Ireland chief executive Leo Clancy has said as the agency reported record net job creation numbers. He's more worried about a skills shortage and the impact of inflation.

Fed chief warns high inflation threatens jobs recovery

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Do not roll your eyes when lawyers complain of overwork

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OECD inflation surges to 25-year high of 5.8%

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Prices for used cars up 56% over the last two years

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Frank Cushnahan and Ian Coulter, two high profile adviserson the contentious sale of Nama 's Northern Ireland property loanbook, called Project Eagle, have been sent for trial on fraud and other charges.

The Irish family-owned Smyths toy store group has injected €175 million into its mainland European business to drive its expansion after the former Toys R Us network became the most profitable in Smyths' international network in 2020. Gordon Deegan reports.

Laura Slattery writes that Ireland has been ranked joint 14th on a list of the most prized passports in the world because it offers visa-free or visa-on-arrival travel to 187 countries, according to the latest ranking by Henley and Partners.

Sarah O'Connor says we should think twice before we roll our eyes at tales of highly-paid young lawyers complaining that they are overworked. They might not deserve our sympathy, she writes, but they do deserve our support to improve working conditions.

Meanwhile Mayo solicitor Katherine Doocey has failed in an appeal over her striking-off from the roll of solicitors for professional misconduct over a €169,000 deficit she allowed to build up on her client account as she "borrowed from Peter to pay Paul".

Commercial Property returns for the new year. Ronald Quinlan reports on a move by members of the Cosgrave family to put the Hendrick Smithfield hotel on the market at a guide price of €35 million.

He also has details of the sale by the Representative Church Body, the property arm of the Church of Ireland, of the listed former St Mary's Church, at the corner of Anglesea Road and Simmonscourt Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.

Fiona Reddan writes in a piece available exclusively for subscribers that property investors look set to save more than € 500 million in tax thanks to an incentive introduced during the dark days of the financial crisis.

There are also details of a Kilkenny hotel sale and a shovel ready site in Dublin.

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