Inside Business with Ciaran Hancock

This week Inside Business looks at pay transparency.

A new EU directive requiring employers to disclose salary ranges in the workplace and toughen rules enforcing gender pay equality comes into effect on June 7th.

However, Ireland is set to miss that deadline, with no draft legislation in place.

Nichola Harkin is head of employment law services at employers’ group Ibec and joins host Ciaran Hancock in studio to explain the key elements of the new EU pay legislation and what it will mean for employers and their staff.

How is it being received by companies here? And will it close the gender pay gap?

In the second half of this episode, Ciarán speaks to Irish Times Washington Correspondent Keith Duggan about the new governor of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh.

He has been described by New York Times columnist Paul Krugman as Donald Trump’s sock puppet.

So, the question is, will he be his own man or a Trump patsy?

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.
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House price growth hit 6.5 per cent in March, the slowest rate in two years, offering some chink of light to those hoping to buy.

For tenants however, the news is grim, with rents rising by 4.4 per cent in Q.1, the highest quarterly increase since 2022. While the number of eviction notices issued by landlords rose by 50 per cent in the same period. All that against the backdrop of new government rules around renting.

To make some sense of these data points, Inside Business host Ciarán Hancock is joined in studio by Marian Finnegan, CEO of Sherry Fitzgerald, the country’s largest estate agent, and on the line by Irish Times Economics Correspondent Eoin Burke-Kennedy.

In the second part of this episode, Ciarán is joined by Irish Times business reporter Ian Curran who was in Toronto last week as part of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards programme. Ian highlights some of the business leaders who impressed, their sales pitch, and reaction to Canadian prime minister Mark Carney’s group address as he seeks to wean Canada off its reliance on the US.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How high could oil prices go?

It has shot up since the United States and Israel’s war with Iran began a couple of months ago. But not by as much as might have been expected.

Talks on a deal are taking place but in the absence of a deal there is concern that a prolonged conflict could lead to a global recession.

Economist John FitzGerald and Cliff Taylor of the Irish Times join host Ciarán Hancock in studio to discuss the implications for Irish householders and businesses.

In the second half of this week’s Inside Business, we hear about how plans for a €250 million winter sports arena in Cherrywood, south Dublin are progressing. This week we learned that several US and Canadian ice hockey stars, including former Stanley Cup winners, have signed on as investors in the proposed ice hockey arena.

Eoin Burke-Kennedy of The Irish Times has been covering the story, and he joined Ciarán to outline who these investors are and what their involvement means for the project.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First up on this episode of Inside Business, the rising cost of living.

Prepay Power last week became the first Irish energy supplier to announce an increase in its prices since the Middle East conflict began.

Daragh Cassidy is Head of Communications at consumer advice website bonkers.ie, and he joins host Ciarán Hancock to discuss the outlook for a range of consumer prices, and whether other energy suppliers would follow Prepay Power’s lead and increase their prices.

In the second half of this episode, Professor at the School of Computer Science & IT at UCC, Barry O’Sullivan, joins Ciarán to get under the skin of artificial intelligence and its poor image.

Some say it will cure cancer and solve climate change; while others view it as a threat to humanity and something that will take away all our jobs.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On today’s Inside Business podcast Cliff Taylor from The Irish Times discusses the latest inflation figures, and our Current Affairs Correspondent Conor Pope offers tips on cutting your energy bills.

Headline inflation in the Irish economy remained steady at 3.6% in April, figures published today show.

“It’s hard to know how things will go but it looks like we could have a turbulent three to six months where energy is concerned” Cliff Taylor said.

For consumers that could mean the need to take a look at the small changes that could, by the year’s end, tally up to substantial savings.

The time you spend in the shower, the amount of water you put in the kettle, and how often you put the immersion heater on are all behaviours worth looking at, explains Conor Pope.
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