Barry O'Sullivan

Last week a senior group from the OECD visited Foynes as part of a review of Irish Rural Development Policy. On behalf of the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce, I provided a brief perspective on the current situation in ‘regional’ Ireland and the potential for the future. Before that, Margaret O'Shaughnessy, gave us a tour of the Fying Boat Museum. Margaret is one of the most impressive people I have ever met. Its nothing short of amazing what she has achieved over the last 35 years. I highly recommend visiting - both for work and pleasure. She has a conference room and excellent catering facilities, an ideal place to host an offsite meeting for your Team. For the OECD Review, the facts are clear: 1) The hundreds of years old trend continues, people continue to migrate east to Dublin for better prospects. 2) Over half our students leave the region on graduation. third level education is in crisis, colleges are attracting significant numbers of students directly from abroad for money, and dropout rates of local students have increased significantly due to lack of accomodation, cost of living, teaching support etc. 3) IDA Ireland has made a significant impact in providing jobs in regions, but they cannot solve this alone. 4) Per Eurostat, the infrastructure in our region is 50% of the EU average, in the Midlands/NW its just 34%, Dublin 115%. 5) Irish Green policy, now part of Irish government policy, halved the proportion of transport spending on roads. To date, we are denied ring roads and bypasses around regional cities and towns or a motorway connecting our second and third biggest, Cork and Limerick. Rural roads are in an appalling state. 6) Irish Green policy also prohibits the provision of energy security for imported natural gas supply, in stark contrast to the German Green Leader, Robert Habeck, who has opened multiple new LNG facilities there in the last 2 years. However, it is clear that Irish Government Energy policy, heavily weighted towards renewables, will not achieve its targets for 2030 or 2040, due to the lack of a detailed Plan, and this will have a detrimental impact on the economy, but much more on rural regions than the capital. 7) Major international tech investors, key contributors to Ireland over the last 30 years, are now investing heavily elsewhere due to lack of power and basic infrastructure. 8) Regional towns, cities and villages are often limited in their capacity to expand due to lack of water, wastewater, electricity etc. We need significant and sustained investment in Ireland’s regions to enable equality of opportunity for all, regardless of where they live on this Island. It is not sustainable to be in the most peripheral region in the EU with 50% of the average infrastructure and expect to live happily ever after. The big opportunity is to start harvesting the Atlantic wind to provide green and secure energy for Europe, but we must start now. We need many more people like Margaret O'Shaughnessy

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FD Technologies, the London-listed Irish consulting firm, has proposed a tender offer to return up to £120 million (€145.7 million) to shareholders

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Ireland’s high flat rate of 33% Capital Gains Tax (CGT) limits investment in homegrown small businesses. The time has come to introduce a lower 20% CGT rate for unquoted indigenous firms. This cut in CGT would provide a funding stream for Irish small businesses and ensure that capital is recycled back into funding new businesses. Such a move would ensure that Ireland remains attractive to entrepreneurs. Read our full report here - https://bit.ly/40dsagy #VoiceofDublinBusiness #GeneralElection

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Cork Business Association has submitted key recommendations for the revised National Planning Framework (NPF). The key recommendation made by CBA is that if Cork is to achieve the ambitious growth targets set out at a national level there needs to be support in the NPF for key growth enabler projects such as the Events Centre, without embedding this in national policy objectives achieving the targeted growth will be difficult. The CBA also recommended the following:  1. A return to ambitious 60% population growth targets.  2. A housing policy reset, focusing on brownfield sites like Cork City & Tivoli Docks and addressing some of the barriers to achieving immediate housing delivery (the relocation of the Port of Cork and Gouldings as a national priority)  3. Sustainable transport solutions, including Light Rail & BusConnects. Let’s ensure Cork thrives as a dynamic urban center! #NPF #CorkGrowth #SustainableCork Irish Planning Institute Darragh O'Brien TD Jack Chambers Office of Public Works Clara O'Neill Simon Coveney

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Interesting spot of significant direction from Department of Finance Ireland to the National Treasury Management Agency ("NAMA") regarding preparatory work required in relation to the Conclusion of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Special Liquidation and Dissolution of the National Asset Management Agency "Re: Memorandum to Government on 2nd July 2024 relating to the General Scheme of the above mentioned Bill. Following Government's approval of the proposal to draft the Bill along the lines of the General Scheme, my Department is now working with the Attorney General's Office and the Office of Parliamentary Council to draft the Bill. The Bill provides inter alia for the residual assets and liabilities associated with the conclusion of the Special Liquidation of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporate (In Special Liquidation) ("IBRC") to the National Asset Management Agency ("NAMA"), at end 2024 / early 2025. The Bill is a priority piece of legislation for the Government. It is therefore important that appropriate support is provided by NAMA on an interim basis to undertake all necessary preparatory work required to facilitate the proposed transfer of residual activity from IBRC to NAMA pending enactment of the Bill. This support will ensure that operational activity can commence following the passage of the Bill. Therefore, and in accordance with Section 13(l)(d) of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Act 2013, I hereby direct NAMA to undertake all necessary preparatory work in respect of the transfer of residual activity of IBRC to it. This direction is given pending the enactment of the Bill, currently being drafted, which, when enacted, will facilitate such legal transfer. I direct NAMA to incur such costs as NAMA considers necessary or expedient in connection with this direction, and an estimate of these costs should be incorporated in the NAMA budget process".

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⚠ ATTENTION BUSINESS OWNERS ⚠ The publication of the Finance Bill 2024 will bring a significant shift in the PRSA landscape in Ireland, in particular for company owners, in 2025. As things stand, there is no limit to how much a company owner can pay into a PRSA. As of 1st January 2025, it will be capped at 100% of their salary. In practical terms, you could have a company owner taking a salary of €40k from their business, but who is putting €100k into their PRSA in 2024. In 2025 and beyond, they will be capped at €40k. Any contributions above the 100% cap will be subject to BIK. This is a big shift, and I'd highly recommend that any company owner sitting on a healthy balance sheet should take financial advice very soon with a view to maximising the current PRSA position before it changes. DNG Financial Services James Kane MSc, CFP®Tom Flanagan BBS QFA CFP®Rebecca Harlow QFA Suzanne Kennedy QFA APA #financebill2024 #prsa #pension #retirementplanning #businessowners #companydirectors #dng #dngfs #dngfinancialservices

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Ibec published its new Economic Outlook earlier today, forecasting GDP growth of 2% in 2024 and 2.7% in 2025. The report highlights that, while the Irish economy is experiencing some moderation in growth after five years of remarkable expansion, the economic outlook remains positive. However, the Outlook also notes that under-delivery in critical infrastructure is constraining the potential for growth in both domestic businesses and foreign direct investment. Read the full report here 👉 https://lnkd.in/e8iRisDN

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Some reflections on developments in the past week. Its great to see GT’s report confirming what many sense is a growing level of optimism on the outlook of the Irish economy for next 12 months. A useful read for small/mid level businesses as it counters the optimism with caution about the growing cost of doing business - Energy costs Nr 1, plus squeeze on firms ability to invest in tech. https://lnkd.in/et24rkpy Our neighbouring market in the UK is showing Green Shoots as noted in this FT article, which is a positive for businesses looking to grow their presence there. https://on.ft.com/4fly98 The exec summ report from the #NationalCompetitivenessAndProductivityCouncil this week is a worth a scan - confirms market is operating at full capacity and needs intervention to relieve this pressure and to allow businesses continue to grow. Several sensible recommendations for Gov in upcoming budget, including - Gov to enhance tests on cost impacts on SMEs of greater regulation or new Gov policies / Gov to prioritise addressing shortages in Green, Digital, Construction skills / prioritise capital investment plans to align with the above. https://lnkd.in/eQbWT_Hu More big deals in the M&E space - news of #DornanGroup being acquired by Turner’s (part of the global ACS Group). Vote of confidence in the outlook for the tech sector. Congrats to #BrianAcheson and the DG team. https://lnkd.in/eEC6ia6f My engagements in recent weeks with mid market businesses have shown up the challenges business owners and leaders have in terms of working ON their businesses. Was with #EnterpriseIreland and saw first hand the support they are giving to help in this respect. More businesses should look to leverage this. Best wishes to our Irish teams in the Olympics - feeling very optimistic about the medals….

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Uisce Éireann Irish Water are working extremely hard to bring infrastructure forward to address water service log jams around the Country, in particular in the Greater Dublin Area. The issues they have though are totally underestimated in the RTE clip. The figure of 50,000 houses is just not achievable Countrywide at the moment. Assume 25,000 of the 50,000 houses are planned for the GDA. Lets use a decade as being the time it will take to bring water from the Shannon. That's 250,000 houses reliant on today's drinking water infrastructure. Uisce Eireann is already over-abstracting at their WTP at Ballymore Eustace. UE are beyond the limits set by the relevant planning permission. Where's the water going to come from over the next decade? Maybe Leixlip? The Leixlip WTP is downstream from the Osberstown WasteWTP of 120,000pe. Think about that! So here's another thing - the Poulaphouca Reservoir, as the main source of GDA drinking water is a no go area for recreation and amenity. The huge Reservoir has recently had the Blessington Greenway refused by An Bord Pleanala on the grounds that the lake is a water supply infrastructure and might be polluted by the greenway. You can look but you can't touch. That's what it means being beside a drinking water source. As the reservoir becomes more important nothing can be developed near it - including Blessington Town. In terms of Wastewater, UE try to differentiate between compliance capacity and development capacity. So take Blessington again for example. The EPA licence says its 6,000 pe capacity. To 'green light' the plant to achieve compliance UE upgraded to 9,000pe - without the required licence review from the EPA. A nice compliance buffer in fairness. In the space of less than a year though planning permissions have been "green lit" by the relevant Councils to use up all that new capacity. All the while the EPA licence is still at 6,000pe. The ABP planning inspector predicted this and recommended refusal of the expansion at the time - but was overruled by his board. And that's just one example. With all this and more to address in the Greater Dublin Region alone and at least a decade before any real solutions are in place, nobody can guarantee water services for any development, never mind 50,000 houses per year. Niall Gleeson Simon Harris Martin Heydon James Lawless Joseph Neville

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Build your 2025 Director CPD In this piece with the Business Post IoD Ireland CEO Caroline Spillane CDir reflects on how directors need to keep pace with a rapidly changing and highly dynamic business environment. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eyVbxzeD #IoDCPD #Governance #Leadership

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The value of Irish exports grew by €6.2 billion to €72.4 billion in the first four months of 2024 mainly due to increased exports of chemicals and related products.

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A timely and detailed new report by Department of Finance Ireland on the Availability, Composition and Flow of Finance for Residential Development published overnight… important work which is in line with previous work by the Housing Commission, Property Industry Ireland (PII) and Irish Institutional Property The consistent evidence over the past few months gives lots of perspectives on the need for consistent approach to our housing system… Page 10: … ‘the funding requirement increases to €20.4bn, of which €16.9bn would be required from private capital sources… does not take account of the recycling of capital…’ #dothemath 🧮 #fdihousing 🏘️👷👷‍♀️ #targetsbytenures 🎯 #npf #infrastucture 🪫🚰 #rentalsector #policyreform Ibec Banking & Payments Federation Ireland SCSI - Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland Reported in the The Irish Times below in comments… 👇🏻⬇️ https://lnkd.in/e4g_pbi5

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We're proud to share the Limerick Chamber's submission to the government as we anticipate Budget 2025. Our focus is on research-based initiatives that are critical for the future of Limerick and the broader Mid West. These aren't new ideas; they're long-standing initiatives we've advocated for time and again. Here's what we're focusing on: 1. Nurturing Talent and Retention 2. Shaping the Built Environment 3. Fueling the Future Each of these areas holds the potential to significantly alter the trajectory of our region's future. We urge leaders across the Mid West to familiarise themselves with these pressing issues and opportunities. Well done to Seán Golden and the policy committee, chaired by Miriam O’Connor, for their exceptional work in consolidating actionable initiatives. These initiatives are poised to provide the government with a clear path forward in Budget 2025, and are vital in shaping a prosperous future for Limerick and the Mid West. #LimerickChamber #Budget2025 #MidWestFuture

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Last week, The American Chamber of Commerce Ireland launched the results of its quarterly FDI Insights survey. This survey highlights the views of members on Ireland as an investment and growth location. Key findings of AmCham’s FDI Insights survey include: - 97% of respondents said that Ireland is competitive when compared to other advanced global economies. - 56% said they expect the number of employees in the Irish operations of their organisation to increase over the next 12 months. - 9 in 10 said their corporate headquarters have a positive view of Ireland as an investment or growth location. - 40% said housing is the most important challenge for Ireland to overcome for their company to invest and expand here. 19% identified cost competitiveness as the most important challenge with 12% saying skills shortage was the number one challenge. - 52% of respondents said Ireland’s highly educated and skilled talent pool is its main competitive advantage. Full detail on the key findings from this survey are available here: https://lnkd.in/e2ZVJUcT

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The department of finance capping supply of homes and in turn, economic growth. 40k homes a year is continued home ownership decline in young and 100% + price inflation. When did the Department go to the voters and agree that for the 1.3 million not owning today? Ireland requires 90-100k homes a year to meet EU levels of supply AND importantly, first time buyers, and then of this 100k homes, 70k of these are first time buyers (15k existing means 55k new first time buyers a year). The Department working on half the demand and the resultant budgets / capital plans means a department completely disconnected from reality; without homes, we can’t grow jobs. Are the department promoting de growth by capping supply? How do they expect to increase taxes, or to enable SMe’s / businesses to grow by capping supply? We’re at risk of becoming a country of only old people who own and then have a ever declining young population not own homes. The Department have to start being proactive and stop blocking wealth creation for young and SME’s and come out of a 1980’s mindset. We have be a high growth, low carbon country with young owning with a better mindset. And as for cash financing housing? 70% will mortgages for young and the rest can be rent financed by long term SSIA or community banking expansion that finances Community regional housing REIT’s that exist the world over outside the bubble in Kildare Street.

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Irish Manufacturing Sector Outlook 2024.... and Insights into 2023 data.. Very Interesting insights from Thinkbusiness.ie As we are into the second half of 2024, how is the year aligning for you?.. Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, InterTradeIreland, Advancing Innovation in Manufacturing (AIM) Centre, Digital Manufacturing Ireland, Lean Business Ireland, West / North West Lean Network

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