Breakfast Business

Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam takes a run through Tuesday's business news headlines.

Last month the government announced significant changes to the rules surrounding data centres.  Gone was the moratorium imposed by the previous environment. Minister Eamonn Ryan and in came strict new rules for energy creation and usage. Digital Infrastructure Ireland says that the new rules are not enough and the likes of EirGrid and the ESB need to improve the provision of electricity infrastructure themselves. All to discuss with Michelle Wallace, Interim CEO of Digital Infrastructure Ireland.

The recent action plan on Infrastructure delivery cited the number of judicial reviews as one of the key reasons why big projects don't get completed on time or on budget. Irish courts take much longer than their European peers and one of the reasons for that is the fact that we have far fewer judges. Seán Guerin Senior Counsel and Chair of the Bar of Ireland believes that making Judicial reviews more difficult is a mistake.  Seán explained by to Joe this morning.

Monday's business news review with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam and Kathleen Brooks from XTB.

Getting in the door with prospective clients is never an easy business.  Sometimes it’s via friends or existing customers.  Other times you have to do it the hard way and simply ring them up or slip into their DMs.  Aidan O’Driscoll has a cold calling service to get leads with the key officers within certain companies and business is good. Aidan spoke to Joe all about his business which is call Align which he is the founder.

The US government now demands to see your social media history before issuing a tourist visa or ESTA to that country.  That includes Irish would-be travellers and sports fans if Ireland qualifies for the World Cup this summer.  And Trump is already having an impact.  Foreign visitors to the US fell 4.2% last year while international travel worldwide grew 4%. Joe spoke to Gloria Guevara the Chief Executive of the World Travel & Tourism Council who carried out the research and began by asking her what the US authorities would be looking for in our social media history. 

Friday's business news and markets along with Joe Lynam and Aidan Donnelly from Davys. 

If you’re already a trained pilot but are between jobs.  Well you might not have to go too far to join an airline.  One of Europe’s largest low cost airlines Wizz Air is on the hunt for captains and first officers. Training takes place outside of Ireland and successful candidates would operate from Luton airport.   Joe was joined on the show by Yvonne Moynihan, Managing Director of Wizz Air UK to chat about their recruitment drive.

Joe Lynam takes a look at today's business news headlines.

Does your local chamber or business lobby group want to encourage people to spend more money in the locality? How about a type of payment card which can only be spent in a very specific area?  That's the idea being used by Chambers in Ireland in its new Town & City Gift Card.  It’s being created by a company called Miconex Ireland using MasterCard technology.  But will it work and create a localised Euro spending system?    All to discuss with Colin Munro the Chief Executive of Miconex.  

The Digital Hub in the Liberties area of Dublin was designed by Bertie Ahern two decades ago to lure high technology companies to the west inner city.  But the Digital Hub survived and is now home to 59 start-ups and scale-ups.  But plans are afoot to expand into a living as well as working quarter with 550 homes being built. But will they be affordable to ordinary people and will the area be able to attract big name digital clients?  All to discuss with Fiach MacConghail, Chief Executive Officer of The Digital Hub. 

If you've enjoyed a beverage at the Aviva stadium recently you’ll doubtless be familiar with the little electronic boxes on which you tap your card.  They’re provided by my next guest’s company: SumUp.  They’re also used in many pop up food trucks, coffee shops and other places where a fixed line would be too expensive and impractical.  But SumUp are more than just for low value purchases, they also provide much of the software and back office needed by SME. Joining Joe on the show was Niall Mac an tSionnaigh, the Chief executive SumUp Europe. 

Wednesday's business news review along with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

How many of us love booking dental appointments?  And how many of us hate waiting on the line in order to do so.  India Healy O'Connnor has created an artificial receptionist to handle those callers who might otherwise hang up due to delays processing the call.  It sounds quite human and there’s a slight delay as the virtual receptionist processes what you've just asked for, but it could save doctors and dentists money by preventing calls going elsewhere.  The service is call Linda AI and one of the co founders is India Healy O’Connor 

Tourism is a very important part of the Irish economy and a huge employer in rural Ireland. The government is pumping €4.7bn into the sector over the coming years to especially boost tourism outside the capital and the usual hotspots such as Killarney and the Cliffs of Moher. It comes as tourism numbers are declining. They were down 2.8% last year compared to 2024 amid the rising cost of holidaying here and geopolitical tensions. All to discuss with Alice Mansergh the Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland.  

Tuesday's business news review along with Joe Lynam.

Driving to every single household on this sparsely populated and often remote island is no easy task and creates logistical and environmental issues.  But my next guest decided to make every An Post vehicle have zero emissions.  No mean feat when we’re talking about hundreds of them.  In fact the national postal service aims to be net zero by the end of this decade. And it is for that reason as well as the fact that An Post consistently wins prizes for its working environment and trust among the public, that this month's Repak ‘Green Business person of the Month’ is David McRedmond, the Chief Executive of An Post. 

Friday business news and market review with Joe Lynam and Leonie MacCann from Irish life Investment Managers. 

The Irish are famously among the biggest tea drinkers in the world.  It used to be a choice of either Lyons or Barrys but increasingly we are branching out in the types of tea we drink including Matcha, Chai and Green tea.  One tea importer in Galway, called Solaris is run by a German couple who have now achieved the rare accolade of a B Corp Status denoting the highest standards in how the business is run.   Jorg Müller, co-owner of Solaris Tea told Joe all about the company. 

In Davos last week the EU Commission said it was pressing on with the introduction of a new type of European corporate entity, called EU Inc, which would be recognised in all 27 member states.  It would create a single, harmonized set of EU-wide rules for company law, insolvency, staffing, and tax and could save a lot of money.It’s often referred to as the 28th regime and our own Michael McGrath is pushing it forward to simplify doing business is a bloc famed for red tape.  The person who came up with the term EU Inc is the German entrepreneur and investor Andreas Klinger who joined Joe this morning.