Inside Business with Ciaran Hancock

On this week’s episode of Inside Business we start with Jack Chambers’ appointment as the new Minister for Finance following Michael McGrath’s nomination by the Government as Ireland’s next European Commissioner.So, who is Jack Chambers and why has he been given such a plum role in Cabinet? Irish Times Political Editor, Pat Leahy, charts the rise and rise of someone many are tipping as Micheál Martin's heir apparent to lead Fianna Fáil. Also on the podcast: aggression against workers in the Irish retail sector has been on the rise, prompting employers’ group Ibec to draft a toolkit to help businesses address this growing problem.Nicola Harkin is head of employment law services at Ibec and she joined Ciaran Hancock to explain the reasons behind this surge in aggression and how its new toolkit might help.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. 

On this week’s episode of Inside Business, we begin with Aer Lingus, after pilots at the airline voted again on Monday to pursue industrial action over a long-running pay dispute with the company. On Tuesday, the pilots’ union Ialpa announced a work-to-rule that will begin on June 26th and run for an indefinite period. Barry O’Halloran of The Irish Times has been covering the various twists and turns in this pay dispute for many months now and he explained what impact a work-to-rule would have on Aer Lingus’s schedule. And what could this dispute mean for customers planning costly holidays this summer? Tune in to hear Conor Pope explain what protections are in place for those booking independently or through a travel agent.Also on this week’s podcast, we hear from Irish Times London Correspondent Mark Paul who has been on the campaign trail around the UK with the Tories and Labour.Data from the Bank of England suggested inflation had returned to its 2 per cent target, which should be good news for the Conservative Party. Instead, Rishi Sunak has failed to generate any cut through with voters, in spite of announcing a number of tax cuts and other headline measures. But what would the economic policy of a Labour government look like?Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

On this week’s episode of Inside Business, host Ciarán Hancock is joined by Irish Times economics correspondent Eoin Burke-Kennedy to discuss the three global mega-trends that he believes stoked the Irish housing crisis and what, if anything, can be done about it. Are government supports such as the Help to Buy Scheme pushing up house prices? Will families ever be able to compete with financial institutions for properties that come to market? And should the Government employ drastic measures to increase affordability? Listen to this week’s Inside Business to find out.Plus, why is the minimum threshold for new building inspections so low here? Head of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, Kevin Hollingsworth, feels Ireland’s enforcement of building regulations is totally inadequate and needs to be significantly ramped up if we are to avoid a repeat of issues such as defective Celtic Tiger-era apartments or homes affected by mica and pyrite. Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council’s latest report has reiterated their stance that government spending plans risk overheating an economy already at full capacity. Is their plea for caution correct given the corporation tax receipt bonanza that shows little sign of abating in the short-term?Niall Conroy is chief economist with IFAC and he joined host Cliff Taylor on this episode of Inside Business to air the council’s concerns.Plus, there is likely to be a rise in workplace audits after Revenue state commissioned freelance work will ‘generally’ indicate person should be treated as an employee. So, how do you know if you are a freelancer or a company employee? Irish Times journalist Laura Slattery and head of employment law at Addleshaw Goddard, Maura Connolly give some insight into Revenue’s guidance on the issue.#Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

According to Conor Pope, Irish holidaymakers have been playing a game of chicken with airlines in recent weeks and – for once – it seems that the holiday makers are winning. With June on the horizon airlines have seats to sell with plenty of capacity at many accommodation options for the peak months.Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary recently said air fares had not increased at the anticipated pace, with peak prices more likely to rise by “zero to 5 per cent” rather than the “5 to 10 per cent” the carrier had expected. Conor joins Ciarán Hancock in studio to discuss that story, along with tips on how to get value when travelling abroad this summer. Also on this week’s episode of Inside Business, Fiona Reddan of The Irish Times explains Revenue rules around parents giving gifts and payments to their children. Can you pay for your son or daughter’s wedding? Can you gift them their honeymoon? What about buying an apartment for them to live in while they go to college? Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

Some 18,000 housing commencements were recorded in April. It’s a huge number and well up on the normal run rate. What was behind that spike? And do we have enough construction workers to build these homes and get to the magic 50,000 new homes a year target that we’re told we need to hit in order to meet demand? On this week’s episode of Inside Business, host Ciarán Hancock is joined on the line by director general of the Construction Industry Federation Hubert Fitzpatrick to discuss these issues. Also on the podcast, this week saw Intel’s huge manufacturing campus in Leixlip, Co Kildare make global headlines with reports of an €11 billion refinancing and the possibility of investment in a new plant there. Local TD James Lawless of Fianna Fail joined us in studio to go through the details.  Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

This episode of the Inside Business podcast looks at Ireland's commercial and residential property markets. In part one John McCartney, Director of Research at BNP Paribas Real Estate Ireland, discusses a significant surge in Dublin's office vacancies and the factors affecting office space demand, including the global economic downturn, a tech sector slowdown, and shifts in workspace needs post-COVID. In part two economics columnist Cliff Taylor looks at Sinn Féin's criticism of first-time buyer support schemes and the State's spending on measures to help people find homes. The episode also explores the potential for repurposing vacant office spaces into housing and the challenges associated with these conversions.

This week we take a deep dive into the issues impacting tech giant Apple. In the year to date, the iPhone maker's share price has fallen by more than 8 per cent, and about €300 billion has been wiped off its market value. Apple has ceded to Microsoft its status as the most valuable US company. This drop was spurred by declining sales in China, regulatory scrutiny of its app store, and mounting concerns that the company has lost its edge on innovation, especially in the field of AI. But is Apple's recent decline likely to continue in the longer term? Business Editor Ciaran Hancock gets a range of perspectives. Guests: Geoff Blaber, CEO of CCS Insight, Denis Staunton, Irish Times China correspondent, Karlin Lillington, Irish Times technology columnist and Ciara O'Brien, Irish Times business and technology journalist.