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

STATE plans for a job creation “strategic investment bank” are to be replaced with a “fund” as the pre-election promise is “difficult to implement in current market conditions”.

LOOMING cuts in the social welfare budget could be used to help fund an investment bank to boost job creation, it emerged last night.

LEADING economist Jim Power has supported the call for a Strategic Investment Bank in order to free up credit for the small business community.

THE National Economic and Social Council (NESC) has called for the establishment of a Strategic Investment Bank, saying it would be “a key step” towards providing finance for business investment.

I GREATLY respect Professor Morgan Kelly’s opinion but I do not agree with him on walking away from the EU/ECB/IMF agreement — yet.

The Small Firms Association (SFA) today gave a cautious welcome to the Programme for Government agreed by Fine Gael and the Labour Party saying there it had "good and bad issues".

THE Programme for Government outlines a number of measures designed to facilitate the revitalisation of the country’s business sector through financial incentives.

With just three weeks to go until polling day all political parties will be out in force again today outlining some more details of their election manifestos.

LABOUR rubber-stamped its plan to shake up the crippling EU/IMF bailout deal with plans to rake in savings of €7 billion through taxes and cuts.

The Labour party’s enterprise document pledges €500m to create jobs, but puts emphasis on task forces rather than strategy, writes Tom O’Connor

WHETHER because he’s the repository of rage or the harbinger of hope, there is no denying Eamon Gilmore is the man of the moment: the man to beat.

The Labour Party is to force a vote in the Dáil this week on setting up a Strategic Investment Bank.

Ireland needs a new publicly owned bank modelled on a lender that helped rebuild Germany after the Second World War, it was claimed today.