주아일랜드 대한민국 대사관

General News

·         Tánaiste and Enterprise Minister, Frances Fitzgerald, offered her resignation to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar this Tuesday afternoon after a series of emails released by the Department of Justice brought about the prospect of an unprecedented Christmas election. The Dáil was brought to the brink of dissolution by pressure on Fitzgerald’s position from Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin , Labour, smaller parties and independents.

In a statement, Frances Fitzgerald said she was resigning “for the sake of the country.” Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney are now free to lead Ireland into a crucial phase of the Brexit negotiations without the prospect of an immediate election overshadowing their presence at the table. The fate of the confidence & supply agreement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil remains unclear, with an election likely sometime early in the new year.

·         Amid continuing political turmoil this week's Sunday Business Post leads with the results of its latest opinion poll. The poll shows support for Fine Gael down 2% to 27% while Fianna is Fáil up 1% to 26%. 

·         Dr Paul Deane of University College Cork highlighted the fines Ireland will have to pay for missing its climate change targets by 2020, which appears increasingly likely. Ireland will have to pay between €230-610m in fines for failing to comply with its commitments

·         An Oxfam report has identified Ireland as one of the countries that would be blacklisted as a tax haven if the EU applied their rules to member states. Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Malta were also identified as European countries that fall afoul of EU tax haven criteria.

·         Former Environment Minister, and current EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Phil Hogan, last week urged British PM Theresa May to allow Northern Ireland to remain in the EU customs union. Mr. Hogan has said that such an arrangement would remove one of the major sticking points in the Brexit negotiations. In response, British Trade Secretary Liam Fox said that the border issue cannot be solved until the trade deal with the EU is concluded.

·         The  ESB could be forced to pay out €100m to famers after a series of successful cases taken against the state energy company. According to the story, farmers who have electricity poles on their land could receive an average payout of €50,000 each.

·         Tensions are mounting between the state and Apple over the €13bn tax issue according to a storyin the Sunday Business Post. The paper reports on a "deep unhappiness" at the heart of the government concerning Apple's behaviour over the unpaid tax.

Business / Economy

·         Aer Lingus is the focus of top business story in the Sunday Independent It is reported that the airline is to move its key complaints department to the US in a move staff fear is part of a major outsourcing move.

·         The Sunday Times business section leads with the news that Sigmoid Pharma, an Irish biotech group, is finalising an investment of more than €30m. According to the story, the investment is a prelude to plans for listing on the NASDAQ.

·         The Revenue could take over the collection of the TV licence fee. A recommendation due to be made this week by an Oireachtas Committee. The move could boost RTE's income by €30m.

·         The Central Bank has said it will keep the core elements of the current mortgage lending rules following a review of the policy. At the moment, first time buyers must have 10% of the value of the purchase price as a deposit to hand in order to secure a mortgage, with a limit of 3.5 times of their salary for the total amount of the loan. Second time buyers must have saved a 20% deposit. The rules were introduced in order to curb risky lending and to dampen the housing market.

·         Central Statistics Office figures show there was no change in the level of monthly retail volumes from September to October; although there was an annual increase of 4.5% compared to the same month last year. New car sales fell sharply in line with the declining value of sterling compared to the euro, while pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and medical supplies all increased.

·         Further CSO stats showed a 5.8% decline in the number of UK visitors to Ireland from August to October, also perhaps as a consequence of the weak value of sterling. Overall visitors increased by 2.9% with the North American market remaining buoyant.

Weekly earnings also increased by 1.7% in the third quarter according to the statistics agency. Highest average weekly earnings were in the ICT sector; while the accommodation  and food services sector were the lowest with average weekly earnings of €344.

·         Irish food group Greencore, which has a large exposure to the UK market, has shown a 56% rise in Revenue to the year ending in September, but its pre tax profits dropped 74% due to restructuring costs and the purchase of Peacock Foods in the US for $747.5m.

·         UK based Pharmaceutical packaging firm Wasdell announced 300 jobs for Dundalk. The IDA, which is supporting the jobs, said that the investment is an example of the strength of the life sciences industry in Ireland, and is the type of opportunity from Brexit that the investment agency is seeking to secure.

·         The British-Irish Chamber of Commerce published their framework proposal for how borderless trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic could function post-Brexit. The Chamber proposed an effective customs union between the UK and EU under which there would be an agreement not to have divergent standards and regulations.