Ireland

Just more than €1 billion of taxable income was sheltered from tax through the use of various property reliefs, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has confirmed, the Irish Times reported. In a written reply to Fianna Fáil’s finance spokesman, Michael McGrath, Mr Noonan said the figure totalled €574 million in 2012 and €450 million provisionally in 2013. Figures for last year are not yet available.

We should be used to them by now, but the figures relating to the Irish banking and economic crash still have the power to shock. At the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry, Central Bank of Ireland governor Patrick Honohan said the overall net cost to the economy of the banking bust was “well in excess of €100 billion and still growing”, the Irish Times reported in a commentary. What might the State have saved if an alternative to the blanket bank guarantee had been chosen?

Employers’ group Ibec has warned the Government not to legislate against minimum hour or flexible contracts, saying such a move could be detrimental to the economy, the Irish Times reported. Danny McCoy, Ibec ’s director general, was responding to claims by trade unions that uncertain terms of employment are exploiting workers. Mr McCoy also said that the tradition of a single job with a single employer has become “exceptional,” adding that full-time contracts in the past have allowed for people being kept in work despite lower demands for services.

Efforts by the Revenue to force indebted people pay VAT on advice to get themselves out of financial trouble have been rejected, the Irish Times reported. In what has been described as a landmark ruling has found that debt management services are not subject to VAT. Essentially, when people approached a debt management agency, Revenue was insisting that they be charge VAT at 23 per cent on the professional service fee charged by the debt agency to handle their case.

The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has said the Government should consider a speedier sale of State-owned banks such as AIB to boost competition in the mortgage market and ease borrowing costs, the Irish Times reported. In new research published with its quarterly economic commentary, the body found that the relationship between the European Central Bank policy rate and standard variable mortgage rates (SVRs) in the Irish banks weakened further after 2011. This was on top of negative credit growth across all sectors of the Irish economy.

British bookmaker Betfred is understood to have expressed interest in bidding for Ladbrokes’ troubled Irish business, the Irish Times reported. Ladbrokes Ireland plans to close 60 of its 196 betting shops and cut 250 of its 850 jobs under a rescue plan being prepared by High Court-appointed examiner Ken Fennell of Deloitte. Irish competitor Boylesports has launched a competing bid for the chain that will see it invest an eight-figure sum in the business, and which it says will result in fewer closures and job losses.

The number of mortgage accounts in arrears for two years or more continued to rise in the first three months of 2015, albeit at a slower pace than seen previously, the Irish Times reported. New figures from the Central Bank show there was an increase of just 155 accounts in arrears for over 720 during the first quarter, as against an increase of 1,729 account for the same period a year earlier. The number of accounts in arrears for over a year fell to 55,470 at the end of March, equivalent to 7.3 per cent of the total stock.

Dublin-listed oil and gas firm Aminex has secured a six month extension for the repayment of its $7.6 million corporate loan facility to allow it to complete ongoing repayment and refinancing discussions, the Irish Times reported. The group now has until January 31st to repay the loan.

Bookmaker Boylesports has challenged rival Ladbrokes Ireland’s restructuring in the High Court, arguing that the process is effectively designed to prevent a takeover of the business, the Irish Times reported. Ladbrokes Ireland is working its way through a rescue plan for the loss-making chain with a High Court-appointed examiner, Ken Fennell of Deloitte. It plans to close up to 60 of its 196 betting shops in the Republic and cut some 250 jobs. Boylesports intends to launch a bid for the entire company.

People struggling with debts they cannot repay should feel no stigma and should not be afraid of making contact with the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI), an Oireachtas committee has been told, the Irish Times reported. Addressing the Justice, Defence and Equality Committee, the head of the ISI Lorcan O’Connor said that there were still 37,000 mortgages in arrears of longer than 720 days and a “lack of engagement” was hampering the resolution of a large number of cases.