Warning signs on tax; retail veteran retires; and fresh food for dogs

There was good news in the Department of Finance's annual tax report. The pandemic knocked only a 3.6 per cent hole in the State's income last year. But there are some warning lights. Corporation tax now accounts for close to €1 in every €5 collected but is ever more concentrated on a few big companies and is facing a challenge from global tax reform. Elsewhere, more than 80,000 small businesses have been warehousing tax debt – bills that fall due at the end of next year. Eoin Burke Kennedy reports while Ciarán Hancock analyses the figures.

Veteran Irish retailer Paul Kelly takes his final bow at the end of this year, writes Ciarán Hancock. The man who led Brown Thomas for a decade before moving as Galen Weston's right-hand man to Selfridges in the UK will retire as managing director of the Weston family vehicle, Wittington Property Investments.

Butternut Box, a London-based fresh dog food business co-founded by Irishman Kevin Glynn, has raised €47.2 million from backers, including an investment find tied to luxury goods group LVMH Louis Vuitton. Charlie Taylor has the details

With rare bipartisan support, the US Senate has passed a sweeping $1 trillion (¤853 billion) infrastructure Bill that will provide hundreds of billions of dollars to upgrade America's crumbling transport systems. It's a big victory for President Joe Biden but now faces passage through a deeply divided House of Representatives.

Day of reckoning awaits SMEs on warehoused tax debt

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Eir to roll out gigabit fibre to a further 200,000 premises

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What are text memes? The trend taking over Instagram

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Deliveroo expands on-demand services to Waterford city

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Plans for a ¤30 million cost-rental housing development in Cork city have been unveiled by housing agency Clúid. Eoin Burke-Kennedy writes that the 88-apartment scheme will contain 73 cost-rental units and 15 social homes.

Also investing is Eir, which says it will roll out its gigabit fibre to a further 200,000 premises following a surge in demand during the pandemic, writes Charlie Taylor.

An ESRI report finds that increases in fuel prices for residential heating due to a carbon tax will exacerbate the number of people experiencing fuel poverty. Colin Gleeson looks at the report.

Shares in Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment surged more than 8 per cent after it reported a trebling of pretax profits in the first six months of 2021 and a growing contribution to revenues from its fast-growing US business. Barry O'Halloran reports.

Dublin-headquartered Gazelle Wind Power has raised €3.4 million to accelerate the development of what it promises will be a ground-breaking hybrid floating offshore wind platform that will overcome current barriers of buoyancy, and geographic limitations, while also reducing costs and preserving fragile marine environments. They spoke to Charlie Taylor

Finally, two tech giants are taking steps to address public concerns as they come under mounting pressure. Retail giant Amazon says it will start paying compensation to customers affected by dangerous products sold on its site by independent sellers.

And Google says it will introduce new protections for younger users, making video uploads to YouTube private by default for under-18s. The tech giant is also introducing new policies to remove images from Google results.

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