A roundup of today's other business news in brief

Cardiff to become secretary general

Kevin Cardiff, the civil servant responsible for the taxation and financial services divisions at the Department of Finance is to become its new secretary general.

The Government announced yesterday that Mr Cardiff will succeed David Doyle as secretary general of the Department of Finance when the latter retires from the role at the end of the month.

Mr Cardiff is responsible for taxation and financial services. Over the last 18 months, he has concentrated on the financial crisis.

He has held a number of roles relating to banking and regulation and in the nineties, was responsible for monetary and exchange rate policy.

He is in his late forties and joined the civil service in 1984.

Nama in market for financial advisers

The National Asset Management Agency (Nama) is seeking financial advisers to evaluate whether business plans submitted by developers moving under the agency’s control are viable and appropriate.

Nama has issued the tender seeking to create a panel of “suitably qualified financial advisers” working on two-year contracts to the end of 2011 to assess the business plans from borrowers and to “interface” with those borrowers.

The State’s toxic loans agency has said that preference will be given to firms with investment banking and accountancy skills and that reports submitted by advisers as part of their work may be published in whole or in part.

Start-ups fall by 9.5% on last year

The number of new businesses started last year was 9.5 per cent lower than 2008 levels. New data from credit bureau BusinessPro shows that a total of 15,338 start-ups were formed in 2009, down from 16,953 a year earlier.

However the fourth quarter of 2009 saw an 18 per cent spike in new start-ups, compared to the same period a year earlier.

“An optimist might suggest that this could be the beginning of the long recovery ahead - the fabled green shoots,” commented BusinessPro managing director James Treacy. “Certainly most business costs have reduced substantially over the past year and it could be a good time for budding entrepreneurs to dip their toes in the water.”

Unite to meet BMI over Dublin airport jobs

Trade union Unite is to meet management from British airline BMI next week to start a consultation process over the 33 jobs at Dublin airport which are now at risk of redundancy following the company’s decision to reduce its daily service between Dublin and London Heathrow.

Some of the staff have been with the airline for more than 20 years.

On Tuesday, the airline said that it would reduce its Dublin-Heathrow service to four flights a day from the current six from March 28th. It plans to remove an aircraft based in Dublin and close the crew base here.

“Our focus is on securing the best outcome for our members,” said Unite’s regional officer, Brian Gormley.

“We will explore all avenues to make sure our members are treated with respect and that any redundancies that are necessary will be accompanied by an offer in line with the best Irish practice.”

Warning over financial regulation

Plans to adopt strict EU reforms of financial regulation in Ireland may have a negative impact on the competitiveness of niche financial services offered by smaller countries, the Oireachtas Committee on European Scrutiny has warned.

The committee’s chairman John Perry TD said proposals to develop “a single rule book” will have “wide-ranging implications for the regulatory system in Ireland if adopted”.