Breakfast Business

Do you know what social investing is? Perhaps your company does it to improve its ESG credentials. Mary Lawlor Chief Executive Clann Credo encourages companies to invest in projects which have a social purpose rather than just a Profit motive. Mary Lawlor Chief Executive Clann Credo joined Joe this morning this morning to chat about the work of Clann Credo.

International business news and markets with Economist Austin Hughes.

Even though consumption patterns appear to suggest that we are spending more, new research for PTSB finds that we are in fact saving more than usual as well.  And we are switching utility providers more than as well. Despite that, the Reflecting Ireland study says that more than ⅖ of us don't have an ‘emergency fund’ while conversely 61% of consumers think things will get even better for them next year. Speaking to Joe this morning Leontia Fannin is chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer with PTSB. 

The fourth onshore renewable energy auction was announced this week. Overall just over 2 GW of solar and wind energy was available to be bidders.  60% of that, which can power the homes of 900,000 people for one hour, will be onshore wind farms and the rest solar.  The guaranteed price from the State to the winning bidders came in at just under €100 per MW of electricity.  That’s slightly less than the previous auction.  But how long before these vital new energy sources are actually online? One of the successful bidders was the Danish owned Ørsted which got approval for a 55 MW solar farm in Cork. Speaking to Joe this morning was TJ Hunter Head of Onshore business with Ørsted UK and Ireland.

In 19 days from now the Finance Minister Jack Chambers will rise to his feet to give this coalition's final budget before the election. He has plenty of money in his pocket but what will he spend it on? Small companies have been complaining for quite awhile that they are overburdened with red tape and employment costs. The Small Firms Association wants to see a PRSI rebate as well as a national training voucher scheme. It also wants an overhaul of the tax system which might be a big ask. But what should small companies realistically expect? Speaking to Joe this morning was David Broderick, Director of the Small Firms Association.  

Thursday's business news and updates with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

There are nearly 800,000 domestic boilers in this country. The vast majority of them use kerosene to heat our homes but kerosene is a pretty filthy gas and awful for our environment. We also have incredibly ambitious targets to cut our emissions from domestic heating by 40% over the next six years. One Cork company, Firebird Home Heating, reckons it can do its bit as part of the transition to emissions free heating of our homes. They propose using hydrotreated vegetable oil mixed with kerosene and making that fuel of choice between now and 2030. Mark Doyle, Managing Director of Firebird Home Heating Solutions joined Joe this morning to discuss further.

Donald Trump squared off against his presidential rival Kamala Harris overnight and a few sparks flew. Much of the world holds its breath to see who will be in the White House from next year. But business leaders are also watching to see who will be running France and Germany over the next 12 months. To pull these strands together, Joe spoke to Michael O’Sullivan is author of the Levelling and co founder of Unio Wealth Managers.

Joe Lynam takes a run through of Wednesday's business headlines and main news stories.

Joe was joined by Noelle O’Connell, CEO of the European Movement in Ireland, to discuss Mario Draghi’s recent speech on the EU's economic challenges. Draghi, credited with saving the Euro in 2012, warned that Europe is falling behind the US and China in competitiveness. He proposed major reforms, including changes to EU voting rules and suggested the need for €800 billion annually in investment. Draghi also floated the idea of introducing direct EU taxes or collective borrowing to fund these efforts.

Joe was joined by Peter Vale, International Tax Partner with Grant Thornton, to discuss the ongoing legal battle over Apple’s €13.2 billion fine, which has been sitting in an escrow account for six years. The EU Commission accused Apple of illegally obtaining state aid from Ireland, but Ireland has been defending Apple, fearing it could harm future foreign investment. As the European Court of Justice prepares to make its ruling, this decision could have major implications for Ireland and its relationship with tech giants.

A look at today's business stories and websites with Newstalk's Business Editor Joe Lynam.

In this episode, Joe was joined by Steve Thomas, General Counsel with Kelkoo, to discuss the upcoming ruling from the European Court of Justice on Google's appeal over alleged anti-competitive practices in the price comparison market. The EU accused Google of favouring its own comparison-shopping service in search results, sidelining competitors like Kelkoo. With a potential €2.4 billion fine at stake and the possibility of a company breakup, this case could have profound implications for the tech giant and the broader market.

Joe was joined by Seán O’Driscoll, former CEO of Glen Dimplex and current chair of the ESRI and the governing authority of University College Cork where Seán shared his deep frustrations about the state of university funding in Ireland and the slow pace of infrastructure development. The conversation kicked off with a focus on how Irish universities are funded and why the current system needs urgent reform.

We give you Monday's business headlines and news with Russ Mould.

Aidan Donnelly from Davy's brings us through all the big business headlines.

Emirates has doubled the number of flights it makes from Ireland to Dubai every day.  Joe spoke with Anita Thomas, the Ireland manager with Emirates and began by asking her how business is for them.The Sligo luxury goods maker Voya will now provide fragrances and cosmetics on Emirates business and First-class flights and in its lounges worldwide.  Joe asked the founder of Voya, Mark Walton, how they first came into contact with Emirates?

The AI large language model belonging to X known as Grok has agreed to stop harvesting personal information and data from European union users. It follows a complaint from the Irish data protection commissioner and is probably the first notable victory against X since Elon Musk took over two years ago. But does it matter and has Grok already harvested enough information from us without our consent? We discuss with Newstalk's Technology Correspondent Jess Kelly.

A report published yesterday says Europeans may need to eat less meat and buy more locally produced produce. Is it a sop to Farmers, who may have to radically change what they do and which may end up costing consumers a lot of money or is it a realistic solution to cutting emissions?To discuss further with Joe was Olof Gill is a spokesman for the EU Commission.

A shocking 51% of adults have yet to write a Will and only 14% of those bequeath any money to charities.  Now the advocates MyLegacy hope to persuade more of us to start writing a Will and think of worthwhile causes when it comes passing some of your money.   Niall O’Sullivan, Chairperson of My Legacy spoke to Joe this morning on the show.