Breakfast Business

National Broadband Ireland (NBI), the company responsible for delivering the Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP), will announce in its quarterly update this week that broadband connections are available for more than 200,000 households, farms and businesses across the country Speaking to Emmet this morning was Minister of State in the Department of the Environment, Ossian Smyth. 

Lennox is an Irish laboratory and scientific solutions company founded in Dublin 100 years ago this month. Speaking about the company was its CEO, Leslie Brett.

A run-through of some of the business stories today with Emmet Oliver.

Sodexo is the food business that supplies many company restaurants and state bodies.  Now they are laying down the law with all their suppliers by saying that it will no longer work with anyone who doesn't meet its Net Zero targets by 2030.  Principled or foolhardy?  Aoife Wycherley the head of Supply chains and food at SoDexo in Ireland explained their mission to Joe this morning.

 IBI Corporate Finance has been advising clients on mergers and acquisitions since 1966.  Until recently it was owned by Bank of Ireland but now it's been snapped up by the Japanese investment banking division of Daiwa.  Does it put Ireland on the M&A map globally or will IBI simply disappear under a global brand? Speaking to Joe to discuss was Tom Godfrey the Chief Executive of IBI Corporate Finance. 

Joe takes a look at today's markets and the business news with Mike O'Sullivan from UNIO.

Energy prices soared for companies and consumers last year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  It left many households facing extraordinary bills and in need of a bail-out from the central government. Now those energy prices are starting to inch downward but are they retreating as quickly as they rose?  Joining Joe to discuss the energy markets in Ireland and what we can do to keep bills down was Klair Neenan, Managing Director of SSE Airtricity. 

While Britain may not have seen many benefits from quitting the EU, many other companies in Ireland and continental Europe certainly have.  One of them is Brittany Ferries which runs services between France and Ireland as well as Spain.It’s seen freight volumes rise 205% as Irish hauliers try to avoid going through Britain to the continent.  But passenger numbers have soared for them too.  Speaking to Joe this morning on the show was Nigel Wonnacott Group head of external comms with Brittany Ferries. 

A run-through of some of the business stories this Thursday with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

The great and the good in tourism gather this week in London for the World Travel Market.  Tourism Ireland will be there banging the drum over there to drive visitors to the entire island of Ireland and it will be able to say that tourism levels have mostly recovered well since the pandemic.  The company has a new boss - the former Google Executive Alice Mansergh who joined Joe on the show.

The Irish specialist skills gap is very real and will only get worse unless Ireland takes a more innovative approach to sourcing talent.”  That’s the view of the recruitment specialists Castille who have just made Lapps Quay in Cork their new global headquarters.  But what can Ireland do to bridge the skills gap if the cost of hiring people continues to soar and housing remains an intractable problem? Speaking to Joe this morning was Matthew Camilleri the Founder and CEO of Castille.

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

From next year employers will have to deal with quite a few new challenges when it comes to staffing and HR rules.  They include new rules for whistleblower protection but also increasingly tighter rules on the protection of personal data.  And then there’s the key ruling from the Supreme court last month about the Gig economy.  All these issues will be discussed this week at the Employment Bar Association conference and Cathy Smith the Senior Counsel and a member of the EBA committee joined Joe this morning.

Last week we saw unemployment rise to 4.8% still low by recent standards.  While only yesterday the CSO said that the live register of people who claim unemployment support had gone down by 1.8%.  Hovering overhead is also the fear that the corporation tax goose is laying slightly smaller eggs and potentially upsetting spending plans.To discuss further Joe spoke to the Independent Economist Simon Barry.

A run-through of some of the business stories today with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Europe’s biggest airline  Ryanair has just posted its half-yearly results.  To discuss the results Joe spoke to Neil Sorahan, CFO with Ryanair.  

Irish households are rapidly accessing high-speed broadband more and as a result, we’re also downloading videos and using video on demand a lot more.  That’s according to the PWC report into the Entertainment & media in Ireland.  It found that cinema-going is growing but the long-term trend is downwards as is the consumption of newspapers    Speaking to Joe this morning was Conor Forde, Director, PwC Ireland Entertainment. 

A run through of some of the business stories today with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Yesterday we heard that unemployment rose to 4.8% in Ireland.  Despite that many economists describe the country as having almost full employment.  That has created skills shortages for many companies, especially SMEs.  That’s reflected in the SME monitor out today from the Banking and Payments Federation.   Speaking to Joe to discuss this further Brian Hayes the Chief Executive of the BPFI.

The EU has been trying to negotiate with Australia over a trade deal since 2018 but the talks collapsed this week. The EU appears to have baulked at demands from Canberra to deeper access to European markets for its farmers.  There is already trade worth €56bn between the Eu and Australia but a Free Trade agreement would certainly boost that figure. But farmers here are worried that mass-produced Australian beef and lamb could undercut prices locally. Olof Gill the EU Commission spokesperson for Trade joined Joe this morning to discuss.