THE Government is proposing a phased reduction in pension-related reliefs and tax breaks over the course of the next four years, in order to raise €700m in savings, something which has already been criticised as paving the way for a wholesale reduction in people making pension contributions in the future.

AS the European Central Bank (ECB) shows no sign of hiking interest rates, first-time buyers are being told now could be a good time to buy despite the possibility that property prices have not yet bottomed out.

THERE was a near60% drop in the number of mortgages granted in the Irish market last year, with just under 46,000 home loans issued against a figure of more than 110,300 in 2008.

SENIORS’ rights campaigners have welcomed a penalty slapped on a bank which refused a car loan to a customer because she was too old.

A MAN who was registered as blind and unable to work after a stroke was refused compensation because his insurer argued he was not blind enough.