Breakfast Business

The vacancy rate for Irish commercial property stands at early 16% at the moment. That’s the highest in Europe and reflects the fact that demand is still soft after lockdowns. However, the retail property market is doing quite well in certain city centres but even that masks the fact that it varies from street to street.But what happens if Donald Trump persuades tech companies to upticks and move some operations back to the United States?  Joe discussed along with John Moran the Chief Executive of JLL Ireland. 

For most of last year pub, restaurant and hotel owners have complained about the surging cost to their business of higher minimum wages, holiday pay and sickness pay. They weren’t given any reprieve in the budget last October but now it looks as if some good news is on the way as the programme for government which has been agreed, sets out a reduction in the VAT rate to 9% for food-led hospitality companies. What will it mean for the hospitality sector? Padraic O’Kane runs Hospitality and Events Specialists Corporate.ie which also runs the Aer Lingus American football Classic discuss this with Joe this morning. 

Shomera has been making home offices and garden rooms for more than two decades already but has seen a surge in his business since lockdowns gave rise to a roaring demand for working from home. But as some of the biggest companies in the world demand that their colleagues come back into the workplace, what will it mean for the home office business? Joining Joe on the show this morning was David O’Reilly owner of Shomera. 

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

Joe Lynam brings us Wednesday's business headlines and news.

Businesses supported by Enterprise Ireland increased their headcount to a record 234,000 people last year.  That’s according to the annual report just published by the state agency charged with encouraging domestic companies to grow and export.  But with a trade war looming as Donald Trump promises a hike in global tariffs, what will it mean for a very small, very open economy like Ireland? Joe discussed all with Leo Clancy the Chief Executive of Enterprise Ireland.  

For a nation with plenty of rain we have major problems with water infrastructure.  So much so that water is set to be pumped from the river Shannon to meet the surging demand for it in the capital.According to infrastructure experts there’s a €15bn deficit in water and waste water pipes and pumps and that money has been set aside for new capital investment in the budget.  Indeed Uisce Eireann which manages the water network says it needs €120bn.Speaking to Joe this morning was  Paul Sheridan, Director of the Construction Industry Federation.  

Things are moving very fast in the world of social media.  X is soon to be embedded in the White House and openly in support of extreme far right groups in Europe. And Meta is radically scaling back its content moderation policies meaning fewer people to protect users from extreme voices.It all poses a challenge to the brand new agency set up only three months ago to arbitrate on decisions to take down or leave up content user might not like. It's’ called the The Appeals Centre Europe and Joe spoke to its Chief Executive Thomas Hughes.

In Norway 9 out of every 10 new cars bought last year was an EV.  Meanwhile in Ireland sales of electric cars are down 25% on last year. It’s a testament to the waning trust in the latest technology and possibly to a lack of charging points. Either way EVs are here to stay and EU law will phase out the traditional combustion engines by 2035.  Joining Joe on the show was Ronan Flood the Managing Director of Kia motors which is now the 5th most popular brand in the country. 

Tuesday's business news headlines along with Joe Lynam.

Kathleen Brooks from XTB Research brings us through some of the international business news stories this morning.

Elon Musk is throwing his weight around politically and economically worldwide and now Mark Zuckerberg has completely diluted the moderation policies of his companies and thrown out its diversity and equality programs. What does it mean for us in Europe where rules are in place agreed to by 27 sovereign governments? Adam Schwarz is a Political Commentator on Populism and politics and used to advise the UK government. Joe asked Adam what he made of the sudden change of mind by Meta? 

According to the dictionary, Greenwashing is the behaviour or activities that make people believe that a company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is. Given the fact that most of us cannot measure carbon emissions or how to reduce it, greenwashing has become a major issue.There is an Irish start up which verifies whether your green claims are justified or not.  She’s Laura Mora who has advised the UN and now she’s the Managing Director of EcoVerify 

Friday's business news and markets with Kate English from Deloitte along with Emmet Oliver. 

Growth in the Asia-Pacific region is expected to help drive global airline revenue over US$1 trillion for the first time in 2025, according to a paper published today by Avolon.  Speaking to Emmet this morning was Jim Morrison, the Chief Risk Officer of Avolon.

The Consumer Electronics Show took place in Las Vegas earlier this week. One of the 4,000 companies exhibiting at the biggest tech of event of the year were Irish company Kuma Bikes. Newstalk’s Technology Correspondent, Jess Kelly was there and caught up with the founder, Kevin Lacey. 

It’s been clear that the Irish property market is running very hot at the moment with asking prices rising at annual rates of almost 10%. But these figures often mask underlying trends. It comes 2 years after the Central Bank of Ireland relaxed its lending rules and the evidence suggests that average lending multiples are inching up towards the maximum permitted. Speaking to Joe this morning was Conall Mac Coille the Editor of the MyHome.ie survey.

Joe Lynam takes a look Thursday's business news headlines.

It’s nail-biting time for the thousand or so secondary school students who are displaying their scientific and technological prowess at the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition this week.  That’s because the winners will be announced tomorrow. The exhibition comes as Ireland’s dependence on technology comes into sharp focus - ahead of major policy changes when Donald Trump assumes power. Joining Joe this morning in studio was Shay Walsh the Chief Executive of BT Ireland . 

The outgoing energy Minister Eamonn Ryan said last week that there shouldn't be any more new data centres until such time as the electricity grid was beefed up and able to sustain the extra qualities of energy needed to cool these data warehouses. That message will have sent a chill down the backs of those trying to make Ireland attractive for technology companies in general and AI in particular.  But was the minister right to say that building more data centres puts the horse before the cart if the grid is not ready or able to deal with surges in demand? Joe discusses this with Garry Connolly, Founder of Host in Ireland.