Dublin PR firm Gordon MRM has beaten off competition from two other firms to retain its high profile public relations contract with the Government agency Nama.

Communications Minister Denis Naughten has confirmed that the proposed broadcasting charge will not be introduced.

RTÉ has provisionally recommended selling up to 10 acres of the Montrose campus over the next year, ahead of a report on the management of its assets going to the Minister for Communications.

RTÉ management is due to make a decision in the next few months over the potential sale of some or all of its valuable Montrose campus.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has confirmed that the PR firm that represents the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) last year received fees totalling over €3,000 per week.

The Government have said it will be at least several weeks before it makes any decision about what its position will be on a proposed bid by IAG to takeover Aer Lingus.

The Government has increased the value of its 99.8% stake in AIB from €11.6bn at the end of 2013 to €13.3bn at the end of last year, according to the NTMA’s annual statement.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has said that Sean Fleming's is wrong in his assertion that new rules for appointments to State boards will not apply to Irish Water.

A former junior minister involved in setting up Irish Water is hitting out at the company's management.

Commercial semi-state forestry company Coillte is to partially merge with Bord na Móna, it was announced yesterday.

The European Central Bank is still under the impression that the Irish forestry body, Coillte, will be privatised as part of the troika programme for government.

The NTMA raised €7.5bn last year and invested €1.3bn in the economy through the National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF), according to its end-of-year statement.

GETTING Ireland working again is the Government’s top priority. That is why it is my ambition to prove by 2016 that Ireland is the best small country in the world in which to do business.

A trade union representing workers at Coillte has claimed its proposed merger with Bord na Móna would leave the State forest company considerably weakened, with the potential loss of 100 jobs.

There are procedures in place to deal with any potential conflict of interest that will arise if the Government decides to sell Aer Lingus while Willie Walsh is NTMA chairman, according to the Department of Finance.

New figures from Bord na Mona show the State-backed utility returned to profitability last year, with all divisions within the group also generating revenue growth.

The Government has launched a strategic investment fund that will be able to tap the €6.4bn pension fund to make commercial investments in the economy.

Today is the last day that companies can submit bids to buy the retail and power generation unit of the semi-State gas company Bord Gáis.

A Dublin-based PR firm has received over €800,000 (including Vat) in fees in little over three years from the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

Richard Boyd Barrett of the People Before Profit party has said the proposed sale of the Coillte forestry harvesting rights would be "an unspeakable crime against the country".

One of the country’s largest trade unions has called on the Government to abandon its plans to sell off the harvesting rights of trees owned by Coillte.

It would not have been possible for NTMA staff to detect the €3.2m fraud committed by State Street bank in London when it liquidated a €4.7bn fund on behalf of the agency, said chief executive John Corrigan.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) is set to spark a major scramble among the country’s top public relations agencies as it puts its prestigious PR contract up for re-tender.

Coillte is to pay the Government an interim dividend of €2m for the first half of 2012.

The Chief Executive of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) John Corrigan today set out a roadmap for Ireland’s phased re-entry to the international bond markets over the coming 18 months.

Slaven Bilic still walks with a slight limp, the legacy of an operation he had back in January. Doctors tried to fix his old hip injury, which dated back to the most glorious period of his playing days, an episode which effectively ended his career.

Ever since a Sunday paper splashed with the speculative story that customers would be paying €300 for their water metres, the Government’s efforts at introducing a new water charge have been appalling.

There has been a 57% increase in the volume of applications for the forestry establishment grant in the first two months of 2012, according to Forestry Minister Shane McEntee.

FINANCE

Irish Water is going to be the biggest and could be the most important State-owned asset created by an Irish government.

Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte has said the Government does not intend to reverse its decision to sell-off part of the ESB, despite a report suggesting the sale should not go ahead.

TALK of cloud computing highlights the communication gap between rural and urban Ireland.

The Coalition will lose more credibility as years of unpalatable decisions lie ahead, writes Political Editor Paul O’Brien.

ISN’T it amazing that whenever the Government announces a jobs’ initiative the total number of jobs that will be created is always some lovely, long round number?

ISN’T it amazing that whenever the Government announces a jobs’ initiative the total number of jobs that will be created is always some lovely, long round number?

POLITICIANS and the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) clashed over the “inside appointment” of a director to head up a new body that will manage state assets.

ENDA KENNY has defended the appointment of a director to NewEra without the job being advertised.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has ruled out a fire sale of State assets as a special unit assesses options for raising €2bn or more by privatising commercial semi-states.

THE Government has announced a new body to manage its shareholdings in semi-state companies and consider the sale of those stakes.

The Government has announced the establishment of a new unit to manage semi-state assets and use funds to create jobs.

IT now seems unavoidable that minority stakes — at the very least — in pivotal semi-state companies will be sold to try to sustain investment in essential capital projects.

IT’S a load of “hype and spin” according to Fianna Fáil, but the Government claims it is a “covenant with the Irish people”. Here is the report card for the first 100 days in office.

Political Reporter Juno McEnroe looks at the changes Fine Gael promised to make in its first 100 days in office and those it has actually delivered on.

FINANCE Minister Michael Noonan will meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials in Washington this week as part of the ongoing review of the bailout programme.

FIANNA FÁIL has welcomed the fact there will be no “fire sale” of assets, but says the report raises serious questions about Fine Gael’s NewEra plan.

AFFORESTATION targets have been more than doubled in the new Programme for Government.

POLITICAL parties usually make promises aplenty during an election campaign, only to quickly discard them after polling day.

Investment in Ireland's energy, water and communications networks could create up to 20,000 trades and construction jobs, Fine Gael claimed today.

FINE GAEL’S new finance spokesman has bluntly admitted that the party’s much-touted employment plan won’t create as many jobs as leader Enda Kenny claims.

Fine Gael today unveiled a €18bn masterplan to transform the Irish economy through investment in broadband, green energy and water networks.