A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
IBOA refers pension plan row to LRC
The Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) has referred its dispute with Bank of Ireland over the closure of the group's defined-benefit pension scheme to the Labour Relations Commission.
IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick said that, as a result of the bank's failure to enter meaningful negotiations on its proposals, he had referred the matter for conciliation.
In a statement, Bank of Ireland rejected the IBOA's criticisms, saying that the new scheme offers a balanced solution for both employees and the pension scheme itself.
Chorus to offer home broadband
UPC Ireland, owner of NTL Ireland and Chorus, is to introduce new residential broadband speeds for Chorus customers from July.
The company, which took over NTL Ireland last year, is also planning to offer three months' free broadband subscription and free connection to new customers taking the 2, 3 or 6Mb broadband products.
At the end of March, UPC said it had reached more than 240,000 broadband enabled homes and had more than 33,000 broadband users.
Dental firm plans three more outlets
Dental services group Smiles, which is opening its third Irish dental clinic this week, plans to spend €3 million this year opening a further three outlets in Galway, Limerick and Belfast.
The latest outlet will be in the former Bank of Ireland building on O'Connell Street and will have seven consulting suites operating seven days a week.
Trinity Biotech closes $52m deal
Trinity Biotech, a developer and maker of diagnostic tests, said yesterday it had completed the acquisition of a range of US coagulation products for as much as $52 million (€41 million).
Trinity first said it would acquire the range from US firm bioMerieux last month, saying it would lead to the creation of 100 new jobs in Bray, Co Wicklow as it moved production to the Republic.
Kerry in €4.26m share buyback
Kerry Group spent €4.26 million buying back its own shares on Monday as it set about its share repurchase scheme. The food group bought back 250,000 shares, at a price of €17.05 each. It has announced plans to buy back up to 2.8 million shares, or 1.5 per cent of its share capital.
Tullow upbeat on Ugandan results
Tullow Oil said that new results from a second stage of drilling at its Waraga-1 well in Uganda had produced sustained flow rates of about 4,200 barrels of oil a day (bpd).
Last week, the group's partner in the venture, Hardman Resources, said it believed the site had the potential to produce 1,500bpd. Tullow said yesterday that it is now preparing to test two shallower oil-bearing horizons later this week.
The group's shares jumped 6.1 per cent on the news, rising 31 cent, to €5.42.
Accountancy body honours Devlin
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) awarded its fourth-ever honorary membership to PricewaterhouseCoopers partner David Devlin for being "one of the most prominent leaders of the accounting profession". Mr Devlin is the only person to be appointed president of the European accountants' representative body for two consecutive terms.
