Brokers should let customers know what commission they are being paid by financial firms if selling a product, the Central Bank has said.

The Taoiseach said today that people on average wages should be able to afford a mortgage to buy themselves a home.

Chief executives of the two bodies representing 90% of the country’s insurance brokers have said plans by the Central Bank to hike levies on intermediaries by 45% are “unacceptable”.

Last night’s rip-roaring Munster minor football phase-one qualifier in Newcastlewest ended with Seán Murphy’s goal three minutes from time giving Limerick their first championship win in the grade since 2010.

LIMERICK 2-7 CORK 2-15: Little in the way of surprise at the Gaelic Grounds as Cork eased to an eight-point Electric Ireland Munster MFC win over Limerick.

Michael Noonan has been urged to do a U-turn on his pension proposals in next month’s Finance Bill; with proposed pension levy changes being slammed as unjustified and a potential deterrent to people saving for retirement.

The head of the Irish Insurance Federation has urged the Central Bank to investigate “churning” in the life assurance industry.

The Professional Insurance Brokers Association has accused Irish banks of operating illegally and using sensitive customer information to pressure consumers into buying products.

CONSUMERS will enjoy greater clarity on their insurance cover terms thanks to a new paper from the Law Reform Commission, says one industry expert.

Efforts are being made to stamp out what is being deemed as "unfair marketing" towards banking customers.

THE Central Bank has been urged to stop banks from “aggressively targeting” consumers by monitoring customer accounts and account transactions.

The €1.9bn levy on private pension pots has been branded a tax on jobs and savings.

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.

IN a separate response on the pensions market in Ireland, the industry in a joint statement warned that some of the proposed pension policy changes, if introduced, would “impoverish” the middle classes.

PENSION planning may have been the root-canal work of managing your affairs – you do it when you have to but not a moment before. It combines cost, confusion and long-term speculation in the most opaque and unattractive way, yet deferring your involvement creates even more problems.

THE ECB may leave interest rates at historically low levels until the beginning of next year, which would be a welcome relief to those on tracker and standard variable mortgages.

RELIEFS for the tens of thousands of home owners now sunk in negative equity have been welcomed as “a surprise, but really, really good news.”

Dublin: The Professional Insurance Brokers Association (PIBA) has strongly challenged the ESRI on the effects of changes to pension tax reliefs, by saying that it was based on “theory rather than an understanding of consumer behaviours”.

MORTGAGE lending fell by €84 million in August, representing the fifth month in a row of decline in home loan demand.

PUBLIC sector unions have said a survey that claims private sector workers are paying €5,000 a year per person to fund public service pensions is using “fantasy figures”.

REACTION to the sharp reduction in the level of income that can be set aside for private pension cover has been mixed.

THE week long Six Nations Under-18 rugby tournament, which gets underway in Cork tomorrow, is estimated to be worth in excess of €500,000 to the economy of the city.

NEW garda road death figures which reveal fewer young drivers have been involved in fatal accidents has prompted the Government to look at ways of cutting the price of car insurance for young drivers.

ERGO Software Solutions, the Dublin-based software company supplying smart IT solutions to the financial services sector, has been awarded the contract to provide an online mortgage application system for PIBA Mortgage Services, a non-profit mortgage service for independent brokers due to be launched in September.

THERE is a challenge for life assurance companies to launch innovative products to attract SSIA accounts on maturity, according to Diarmuid Kelly, chief executive of the Professional Insurance Brokers Association.

THE Government’s failure to prioritise homelessness in this year’s budget was a missed opportunity to help some of the most vulnerable people in the country, charities said.

Brian O’Mahony, Chief Business Correspondent

INSURANCE brokers have launched a scathing attack on an interim report by the Competition Authority into their profession which they branded “inaccurate and misleading”.

A MAN accused of threatening two prison officers was extradited from England, Limerick District Court heard yesterday.

The Professional Insurance Brokers Association (PIBA) has lodged a complaint with the Government over alleged anti-competitive practices by some insurance firms.