A major shift in the government’s attitude to the controversial Dublin Airport passenger cap will take place this week once a new minister for transport is appointed, the Sunday Business Post is reporting.
While the incoming parties believe former Green Party minister Eamon Ryan would have been loath to find solutions that would have led to the passenger cap being lifted, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will now be “at one” on the issue.
It is expected that DAA will be advised by the government to develop a number of options to solve the issue, before beginning a series of engagements with the new minister who will have the full backing of government to find a political solution.
Speaking to the Business Post this weekend, Kenny Jacobs, the DAA chief executive, said the escalation of the conflict this week has led him to consider legal action against Fingal County Council.
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Jacobs said he was “blindsided” by a statement from the local authority on Tuesday evening that rejected as invalid a planning application to raise the cap to 36 million passengers per year.
Developer builds €200m ‘war chest’ to buy from landowners escaping land hoarding tax
Fitzpatrick & Heavey Homes has amassed a €200 million “war chest” to snap up sites from landowners that face hefty site hoarding taxes from next month, according to the Sunday Business Post
The firm, led by Ciarán Fitzpatrick and Michael Heavey, currently has 350 homes under construction nationwide.
Fitzpatrick said the firm wants to buy enough land for 1,000 new homes and has capacity to begin construction on each of these homes in 2025.
From the beginning of February, Revenue will begin to issue notices for payment under the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT). The new measure will involve landowners being charged a 3 per cent levy on the market value of vacant land zoned for housing.
Councils to face crackdown on housing targets
The incoming government is planning a crackdown on local authorities failing to meet their homebuilding targets amid mounting pressure on ministers over the worsening housing and homelessness crisis, according to the Irish edition of the Sunday Times
With Fianna Fail set to hold on to the Department of Housing and Darragh O’Brien expected to remain the senior minister, plans are being drawn up to establish a new strategic housing and infrastructure delivery office in the Custom House to “turbocharge” home delivery.
The draft programme for government, which is set to be formally approved by Fianna Fail today and by Fine Gael tomorrow, states that the new office will “help co-ordinate and accelerate homebuilding by unblocking infrastructure delays”.
Healthy figures – Vit Hit sells a million cases in the UK
Vit Hit’s UK sales have hit a million cases – or 12 million bottles – for the first time and the Irish vitamin drink brand has just agreed new national distribution deals in Spain and France, the Sunday Independent is reporting.
Founder and biggest shareholder Gary Lavin said he was aiming to almost double turnover to €50 million before even considering selling despite having had a number of offers and discussions with big drinks companies.
Tech outsourcing firm Cognizant blames Google after refusing 75 staff work-from-home requests
Cognizant, an outsourcing company that supplies hundreds of workers for tech giants based in Dublin, has told 75 staff that Google’s requirement for them to be in offices is the reason it had to refuse their applications to work from home, the Sunday Independent reported. The Government introduced a new law last year granting workers the right to request remote working from their employers. Disputes about whether employers are complying with the law are ruled on by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
Trump launches cryptocurrency with price rocketing
US president-elect Donald Trump has launched his own cryptocurrency, which quickly soared in market capitalisation to several billion dollars, according to the BBC. His release of the meme coin, $Trump, comes as he prepares to take office on Monday as 47th president of the US.
The venture was co-ordinated by CIC Digital LLC - an affiliate of the Trump Organisation - which has previously sold Trump-branded shoes and fragrances. Meme coins are used to build popularity for a viral internet trend or movement, but they lack intrinsic value and are extremely volatile investments.
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