RTE Business

The Drinks Industry Group of Ireland (DIGI) has called for a 15% reduction in the country's "high" excise tax rate over the next two years to reduce costs for thousands of rural Irish businesses across the country.

A banker who spent decades moonlighting as a barman at a Dublin pub ended up being sacked twice in one year after a senior manager at AIB read about his unfair dismissal from his after-hours pub job in a news report, a tribunal has heard.

The chief officer of the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) has said that in his view "the hospital is the hostage" in ongoing negotiations with contractor BAM regarding the National Children's Hospital project.

Construction firm BAM has "shifted the substantial completion date" of the new National Children's Hospital project 14 times in just four years, the Oireachtas Committee on Health has been told.

Sweden's central bank has today cut its key interest rate to 3.25% from 3.5% as expected and said that if the outlook for inflation remained favourable it could ease policy at a faster pace in the months ahead.

China's central bank said today it would slash another key interest rate, a day after it unveiled a raft of new measures aimed at boosting its ailing economy.

Powerful trade unions and executives at Volkswagen kick off talks over pay today that are likely to determine how aggressively Europe's biggest automaker pursues layoffs and potential factory closures in Germany.

Ryanair said today it will offer more flights to and from Sweden, adding two aircraft to its fleet in the country following a government decision to scrap an aviation tax.

British retailer DFS Furniture has tumbled to a loss for the past year after it was hit by Red Sea shipping delays and higher interest rates.

Visa shares took a hit last night after the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit accusing it of violating antitrust law by suppressing competition by threatening merchants with high fees and paying off potential rivals.

The UK's Co-operative Group has laid bare the rising impact of shoplifting as it said the cost of crime in its stores surged by nearly a fifth to £40m in the first half of the year alone.

British real estate portal Rightmove has today rejected a sweetened $8.1 billion takeover proposal from Australian property listing firm REA Group, saying the increased bid was still "unattractive".

Bettina Orlopp will take over as chief executive officer of Germany's Commerzbank in the near future, making her one of the country's highest-profile bankers during a tumultuous time for its second biggest lender.

If you've not been a close listener to the discussion of the nation's finances, budget speeches can start to sound complicated. With that in mind, here's a breakdown on the basics, and the background to what's expected.

The union representing thousands of striking Boeing factory workers said last night that a survey showed members were overwhelmingly against the planemaker's latest pay proposal, which it described as its "best and final".

The number of businesses which became insolvent between July and September was up nearly two thirds on the same period last year.

The Government has reduced the rate of the levy rate for the resolution fund for credit unions to 0% next year.

Activity in the tourism industry still remains 6% below its pre-Covid levels, two years on from the start of the easing of the pandemic.

Health insurance premiums have risen by 7% on average in the last six months leaving the average premium at €1,647, according to the Health Insurance Authority (HIA).

The domestic economy looks set to grow by around 2.3% this year, a new forecast has predicted.