Solving the housing crisis, looking to Budget 2021, and living in Florence

Just half the number of new houses needed in the Republic this year will be built as Covid-19 takes its toll on construction, an industry event heard on Thursday. Barry O'Halloran reports on this, while Mark Paul takes on the continuing housing crisis in his weekly Caveat column. Mark argues that perhaps counterintuitively, the Covid-19 pandemic provides us with the shock we need to make something positive happen. Needless to say, the solution would require plenty of money.

Meanwhile, the scale of the economic shock caused by Covid will lead to as much as ¤11.7 billion of revenue shortfalls across SMEs, according to a new Central Bank report. Joe Brennan has the details.

As Budget 2021 moves ever nearer, Eoin Burke-Kennedy looks head to what the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe might have up his sleeve. Eoin writes that in a strange way, the Covid and Brexit emergencies might actually make this year's Budget less complicated than those of years gone by. Mr Donohoe has, he argues, a ready-made excuse for lowering expectations both within and outside Leinster House.

The Minister suggested at a committee hearing on Thursday that the State could learn from the success of Kurzarbeit, Germany's short-time work scheme. Laura Slattery reports that Mr Donohoe acknowledged the swiftness of the German economic response to the Covid-19 crisis in March this year, which it was able to achieve by quickly resurrecting and expanding the scheme it had used in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Wexford Solar bought by energy giant EDF in deal to build eight solar farms

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Waterford company launches Covid app in New York and New Jersey

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Revolut shifts regulation of Irish customers to Lithuania

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The Irish Times Business Person of the Month: Gene Murtagh

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Joe Brennan reports on what to expect from the State's EU commissioner-designate Mairead McGuinness's appearance on Friday morning before a powerful European parliamentary committee. The committee will assess Ms McGuinness's suitability for her new role.

Joe also has details of the sale of a controlling stake in AA Ireland for more than ¤240 million to a fund led by former French president Nicolas Sarkozy's half-brother, Olivier Sarkozy.

Ryanair said on Thursday that it would close its Cork and Shannon airport bases this month if the Government fails to adopt proposed new European Union measures to end travel restrictions. Barry O'Halloran has that story.

Barry also reports on French energy giant EDF's purchase of eight solar-powered electricity generating plants in the Republic as it steps up its presence in the State.

John FitzGerald is writing about climate change this week, arguing that the scale of the shift needed to address it will not be achieved by simply exhorting people to do the right thing. Climate-friendly choices need to make economic sense, he argues.

As many of us enter a new season of working from home, Olive Keogh takes a look at video calls and what might make them better in the future. Advances in virtual and augmented reality could make a big difference, she writes.

This week's Wild Goose is lucky enough to live just outside Florence in Italy, where she works with a foundation that promotes women artists. Originally from the north inner city in Dublin, Clodagh Lawlor's affection for Italy was fostered by her late father Leo, who was a baritone singer and loved Italian music.

And finally, the latest Irish Times Business Person of the Month is Gene Murtagh, chief executive of international insulation group Kingspan. The company outperformed market expectations with its most recent results.

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