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Unions opposed to cuts are subject to law, says KennyTeacher unions and others that remain opposed to €300m public sector pay cut proposals will be subjected to laws cutting higher salaries and other work changes, Enda Kenny said yesterday.
UCC plan will save taxpayers millions University College Cork intends to be largely self-funding within five years, saving the Irish taxpayer millions of euro a year.
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Woolwich terror killing: Security services face probeThe British parliament is to investigate if security services could have done more to prevent the murder of a soldier hacked to death in a London street after it emerged that his suspected killers were known to intelligence officers.
Woolwich killing: Further arrests as spotlight turns on security servicesBritish police arrested two more people yesterday in a hunt for accomplices of two British men of Nigerian descent accused of hacking a soldier to death on a London street in revenge for wars in Muslim countries.
- BUSINESS
Noonan examining ways to capitalise banks It is believed the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan told the IMF that he will look to Contingent Convertible Capital (CoCo) Notes if the banks need additional capital buffers following the stress tests.
- SPORT
The magic is in the anticipationULSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL:Donegal v Tyrone For too long, we've been decrying the anti-climactic starts to thevarious provincial championships. Now we have a genuine no-holds barred contest in Ballybofey.
O’Brien out for final as Schmidt takes issue with Gatland Joe Schmidt has opted against speculating whether Sean O'Brien will miss the opening weeks of the British and Irish Lions tour after omitting the injured flanker from his squad of 23 for today's RaboDirect Pro12 decider.
- LIFESTYLE
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Breaking stories
Output report set to reveal green shoots
By Theresa Newman
Ireland’s economy is likely to have shown growth for the first time in three quarters when output figures for the first three months of the year are released tomorrow, a Reuters poll shows.
Ireland unexpectedly followed most of the eurozone back into recession in the last quarter of 2011 despite seeing GDP for the year as a whole rise by 0.7%, a figure the Government hopes to match this year.The poll of 10 economists surveyed by Reuters and published yesterday, saw GDP growing by 0.6% in 2012, with a quarterly expansion of 0.4% between January and March despite flatter growth among Ireland’s main trading partners in Europe.
“Despite the slowdown in the global economy, it is clear that Ireland has a very healthy and dynamic export model, helped by its focus on recession-proof goods,” said Alan McQuaid, an economist with Merrion Stockbrokers.
“Overall, Ireland is, in our view, in a much better position than other eurozone ‘peripheral’ debt countries to move forward once world growth picks up again.”
Ireland’s recovery, while slow and steady, desperately needs a stronger global economy to deliver the kind of export-led growth needed to make inroads into a debt pile set to peak at 120% of GDP next year.
The economists predict GDP will rise by 1.9% in 2013, up 0.1% on their forecast last month but less than growth of 2.2% pencilled in by the Government.
Expectations for export growth next year, however, have dropped, with the median forecast cut to 3.7%, from 3.8% last month and 4% in May’s poll, indicating that the continued slowdown in key export markets may bite next year.
Ireland is still on track to meet the deficit targets set out under its EU/IMF bailout, the poll showed, while most economists thought the prospect of Ireland re-entering bond markets on schedule in 2013 is looking more likely than a month ago.
Asked if, after raising short-term debt for the first time in 18 months last week, Ireland could borrow enough long-term debt to avoid a second bailout, five of the seven economists who replied said either “probably” or “yes”.
“Depending on the negotiations over the coming months, Ireland could take a giant leap towards debt sustainability, although this must be accompanied by continued adherence to fiscal consolidation plans,” said Dermot O’Leary, chief economist at Goodbody Stockbrokers.
Reuters
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