Breakfast Business

A look at today's business papers and markets with Joe Lynam and Aidan Donnelly from Davys.

Just over a week ago, the Supreme Court passed a landmark judgement which will have a major impact on the so-called gig economy in Ireland. The ruling could impact more than 100,000 people and cost their new ‘employers’ more money.Speaking to Joe this morning on the show with more on this was Anne Dullea from the Revenue Commissioners.

Aldi is one of the very few supermarkets in this country which publishes its annual results.  Their financial year numbers for the past year show that sales were up 1.1% to €2bn but pretax profits were down a whopping 56% to €17m.  The supermarket says that planning delays continue to hamper the roll out of new stores around the country, but their expansion will continue anyway.Niall O’Connor Group Managing Director, Aldi Ireland joined Joe in the studio this morning.

Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam takes a look at some of the business stories this morning.

There was a time when cash was king, and money dictated where everyone wanted to work.  Then came technology and especially lockdowns and suddenly flexibility is the single most important attribute for employees when job hunting.  That’s according to Employflex.  Its survey found that company perks swayed only 6% of workers.   Speaking to Joe this morning was Karen O’Reilly the Founder of Employflex. 

The lion's share of manufacturing in this country stems from the pharmaceutical sector. But huge exporters such as Pfizer are now seeing a clear decline in sales as demand for the COVID vaccine drops, that’s having a direct impact on our manufacturing data and has been reflected in the latest AIB survey. Oliver Mangan the Chief Economist from AIB joined Joe this morning.

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

Kota raises €5 million to make core employee benefits work for modern companies and platforms. For more on this Emmet spoke Luke Mackey, Co-founder and CEO of Kota.

Festival organisers have announced a Live Club Jazz Jam collab show taking place this Saturday night at Cork Opera House. Speaking to Emmet as the festival begins this weekend was  Fiona Collins, Chairperson of the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival.

A look at Friday's markets and business stories with Emmet Oliver and Dan Moroney from RBC.

Irish clinical research organisation ICON plc has released its Q3 2023 financial results.  The CFO, Brendan Brennan joined Emmet this morning on the show.

EY has launched an artificial intelligence platform called EY.ai    Speaking to Emmet with more on their launch of the platform was Paul Pierotti , Partner in Data Analytics and AI at EY Ireland. 

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

Germany is in something of an economic mudbath at the moment.  The IMF said last week that it will be the weakest member of the G7 this year and technically it’s already in a recession.  But Germany never stays weak for long and those betting against it might lose their money in the long term.  For a deeper look at what is going on in Europe’s largest economy, let’s speak to a man who knows both Germany and Ireland having spent quite a bit of time in Co Clare.  Thomas Kuhn from Wirtschaftswoche joined Joe this morning on the show.

The Protected Disclosures Act is now in force which obliges companies to have procedures in place to allow even the most junior employees to become whistleblowers if they see wrongdoing.  In 2 months, the law will apply to companies with 50 or more employees which will bring thousands of businesses into the net and force them to make major changes.  But are they gonna be ready?    Speaking to Joe this morning Michael Kavanagh the chief executive of the Compliance Institute.  

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

Are mass drone deliveries getting closer?   Bobby Healy from Manna Aero thinks they are both on the way and thinks he can build one of the biggest companies in Ireland. 

In just over a year all banks and insurance companies will be legally obliged under EU law to ensure that they have enough protections in place to deal with a cyber attack.  It’s called the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and banking directors will be responsible for robustly managing personal data and any technological issues. Ergo is an Irish company that advises in this space and  Steve Blanche is the CTO of Ergo who joined Joe on the show this morning.

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

Last week we told you that the owners of IKEA had invested in an Irish renewable energy company.  That firm is Source Galileo and they’re set to become a major player in offshore wind in Britain & Ireland.  But will they get over the enormous planning hurdles that seem to hold up all infrastructure investment in this country?  Kevin Lynch is the Chief executive of Source Galileo joined Joe this morning on the show.