ECONOMIST Jim Power said today that the economic recovery is being felt mainly in the Dublin region while other parts of the country are continuing to struggle.

“If this recovery is to spread from the Greater Dublin Area to the rest of the country – there needs to be a policy shift at a national level to support this process and to bring jobs to the regions,” he said today.

…

Almost half of all business managers have had to lay off workers because customers do not pay their bills on time or at all.

A Europe-wide survey also found another 60pc of bosses in Ireland cannot hire new employees because of the growing amount of invoices left unpaid for weeks or even months.

The study raises concerns over the rate of economic recovery across the eurozone, with 46pc of European …

TWENTY-six properties linked to the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) have been sold without any evidence of open marketing, the State’s public spending watchdog has said. The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) examined the disposal of a sample of 144 properties with gross proceeds of about €1.3bn and found 118 had been openly marketed.

The C&AG’s report into NAMA’s progress, released last week, said the explanation for 15 of the …

UNEMPLOYMENT rates soared and wages were slashed as Ireland’s economic crisis took hold, but new figures have revealed more than six out of 10 workers in Ireland’s financial services sector enjoyed a pay rise during the recession.

Another 60pc of public sector employees saw their salaries rise between 2010 and 2011, along with colleagues in the information and communications sector.

The wage hikes have been uncovered by academics from NUI …

LENDER Permanent TSB has reported a strong start to 2014 with a drop in underlying arrears and an 80pc increase in mortgage lending year on year to end April.

It added that by the end of April it had offered restructures to 19,000 mortgage holders in arrears, with 15,700 accepted.

On a standalone basis, the institution’s business unit has been profitable after impairments for the year to date while its …

SEVEN out of 10 finance chiefs have revealed their company has returned to growth, with many predicting further improvements this year.

A new survey found half of the chief financial officers (CFOs) at large Irish companies were optimistic about the financial prospects of their company in the first three months of the year.

A quarter of those quizzed indicated they did not need funding from banks during the first quarter, …

The European Union’s top competition regulator has accused JPMorgan, HSBC and Credit Agricole of colluding to manipulate the price of financial products linked to interest rates. The European Commission’s Joaquin Almunia said the banks will now have a chance to respond to his preliminary findings. If the Commission ultimately concludes they have broken the law, it can impose a maximum fine of up to 10% of their annual turnover.

In …

European shares and peripheral bonds buckled for a second day running on Tuesday, as political angst offset optimism over fresh support from the ECB. The premiums demanded by investors to hold Spanish, Italian and Portuguese bonds rather than German Bunds rose to two-month highs amid growing nervousness about this week’s European Union elections.

Coupled with recent disappointing growth data, the worry is that strong showings by Eurosceptic parties from Greece …

WITH house prices on the rise again as demand outstrips supply in prime locations, budding buyers are struggling to get on or up the property market.

New research carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute found that while more consumers think it’s a good time to buy – and sell – they are still a little cautious and have money worries.

The proportion of those questioned who expect …