Irish Times Inside Business

Last weekend saw a successful opening of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. Today on Inside Business we take a look at the tournament through a business lens. Ciaran Hancock and Mick O'Keeffe of Teneo PSG are joined by Sean Kavanagh, Global Director at Pentland Brands (whose suite of brands includes Canterbury), Padraig Power, Commercial and Marketing director at the IRFU and Ed Dixon, a journalist with Sportspro

The OECD’s efforts to frame a global tax for multi-nationals that will satisfy the demands of the 134 countries involved in the long-running process was discussed at the PwC-Irish Times Tax Summit earlier this week. Cliff Taylor and Eoin Burke-Kennedy join Ciarán to dissect comments made at the summit by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Pascal Saint-Amans, director at the Centre for Tax Policy and Administration at the OECD. What will the changes mean for Ireland and what impact will they have on our bulging corporation tax receipts?

Plus: Laura Slattery has the week’s other business news including Ireland’s Apple tax appeal, calls to tighten regulations on used-car imports and WeWork’s abandoned IPO.

It emerged last weekend that RTÉ sought a €55 million annual funding boost from the State, which it never got. Staff at the broadcaster have been warned that the organisation cannot continue as it is without a significant increase in state funding. That's unlikely to materialise in the upcoming budget. So, what now? Does the solution lie in a doubling of the licence fee, cutting staff, or selling its Dublin 4 campus and starting from scratch?

In today’s podcast, Larry Bass of ShinAwiL Productions predicts a grim future in which the state broadcaster will be without funding to make Irish productions and could be caught up in industrial disputes. We’re also joined by Irish Times business affairs correspondent Mark Paul, who this week wrote that RTÉ’s funding woes are of its own making.

Plus: Peter Hamilton has a roundup of some of the other business stories of the week, including the much mourned closure of beloved Dublin venue The Bernard Shaw.

The new governor of the Irish Central Bank, Gabriel Makhlouf, settled into the role this week, telling staff that he will be in listening mode over the coming months. Joe Brennan outlines what he’ll have found waiting in his in-tray on his first day, including a key ECB governing council meeting on September 12th that will consider whether to ease rates or launch a new bond-buying programme – or both – to shore up the euro zone economy.

Later: Mark Paul has the story of Irish-backed company, Process & Industrial Development, which has won a $9.6 billion (€8.7 billion) UK court judgment against the Nigerian government. P&ID, an offshore company linked to Dublin-based Industrial Consultants (International), won the huge arbitration award after a 2010 gas deal to build an oil refinery in Calabar fell through.

Plus: Peter Hamilton has some of the other big stories this week including exchequer returns, Dalata results and falling wine sales.

Two sets of figures were released by the CSO this week. One shows a return to net emigration in Ireland: more people departed the country than arrived in the year to April. Another set, the latest Labour Force Survey, reveals 2.3 million people are now employed in the state, the highest ever figure. What lies behind the figures? Dominic Coyle asks Eoin Burke Kennedy.

And Fiona Reddan has a story of a too-good-to-be-true investment opportunity that turned out to be just that.

First, though, it's Peter Hamilton with a roundup of the latest business news including another dip in sterling, another Press Up investment and punishment for corporates implicated in the US opioid crisis.

Earlier this week Irish Times columnist Chris Johns wrote about why a hard Brexit on October 31st will be the beginning, rather than the end, of a chaotic phase in Britain’s history and that the country is facing a future as a failed state. He talks to Ciarán about why that is and why he believes that Boris Johnson’s decision to back Dominic Cummings as his senior adviser will come back to haunt him.

They’re joined by Ibec’s director of policy and public affairs Fergal O’Brien to discuss why it is so difficult for Irish business to prepare for a no-deal outcome, how the Irish economy will cope and what measures Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe needs to take in October’s budget to soften the landing in 2020.

Plus: Peter Hamilton takes us through some of the week’s other business news including Ryanair’s scuppered pilot strike, Facebook’s new privacy tool and Hershey’s stake in Irish snack brand Fulfil.

Vodafone got out of the traps first this week announcing the beginning of its roll-out of 5G internet. So, how much will it cost? And, what will it mean for Irish businesses and consumers? Ciarán talks to Professor Ronan Farrell of Maynooth University, which launched a 5G test centre earlier this year, and Irish Times business reporter Charlie Taylor.

Plus: Laura Slattery has a roundup of some of the other business stories of the week including the departure of Norwegian Air from the Irish market, the purchase of Green Reit and a chill in property prices.

Harland & Wolff is officially in the hands of administrators. The legendary Belfast shipyard, once the world's largest, is now a symbol of the decline of British manufacturing and heavy industry. That decline is a subject that our guest today, Eamonn Fingleton, has written and reported on for decades. We're also joined by our reporter Francess McDonnell who has the latest on negotiations to keep the shipyard and its employees going.

But first Laura Slattery has a roundup of the latest business news including a hefty fine for a large Irish firm, Boohoo buying Karen Millen and the disruptor snapping up a rare commodity: talented sports journalists.

Looming international tax changes will be a big setback for Ireland's relationship with multinationals. But how great is the danger? And, how can we adapt to these changes, while continuing to attract foreign direct investment and develop other parts of the economy?

To discuss how this might play out, Cliff Taylor is joined by chief economist at Ibec Gerard Brady and Martina Lawless, associate research professor at the ESRI and member of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council.

Plus: Laura Slattery on some of the other big stories this week, including steep Sterling loses and the continuing controversy surrounding Ireland's new Central Bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf.

Earlier this week minister of state at the Department of Finance Michael D'Arcy told The Financial Times that banking pay restrictions should remain in place - in spite of pressure from the banking industry to loosen them. AIB, Bank of Ireland and Permanent TSB are currently subject to a €500,000 salary cap, while a punitive 89% tax rate applies to any bonuses paid.

Should the restrictions stay or go? Ciarán talks to Brian Hayes, former Fine Gael TD and MEP who is now CEO of the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, and then by Pearse Doherty, Sinn Fein TD and finance spokesperson, for two different views on the issue.

Plus, Peter Hamilton has all the latest business news including more pay disputes at Ryanair, how the markets are reaction to Boris Johnson's election as Tory party leader and struggling state agencies.