Another tax bonanza, but will it last?

The economy dominates the business news today. First, a further €6 billion of Apple tax money flowed into the exchequer last month, swelling Government tax coffers to a record €99 billion for the year to date. The total was ahead of last year’s 12-month total (€88 billion) with one month of receipts still to collect. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the details of yet another windfall for the State.
But as anyone who was around in 2008 will tell you, just because the good times are rolling now doesn’t mean they always will. That is effectively the warning of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, the Central Bank and even the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Eoin and Joe Brennan look at all three reports just published.
Cantillon also weighs in on what the next government will do in terms of spending in the face of such huge income, as well as Coca Cola’s disposal of its green credentials and the meaning of Spotify Wrapped.
Karlin Lillington is ending her 27 year run at the helm of the Net Results column. In her valedictory column, she reflects on the changes, and compromises, we live with as tech plays an ever bigger role in our lives.
Ireland’s largest nursing home groups, mostly now in foreign ownership, racked up further losses last year as they continue to be hit by rising running and borrowing costs and an ongoing gap between Government funding for beds in private and public facilities. Joe has the story.
Trade unions operating in the private sector should seek wage increases of between 4 per cent and 7 per cent next year while aiming to protect hours, improve new entrants’ rates and utilise tax-free vouchers where possible, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has told its affiliates. Emmet Malone reports.
Innovation looks at how sport is using technology in ever more ways, with more to come, while in Technology Ciara O’Brien reports on a very useful tech Christmas gift guide.
Dublin woman Gail Slater is to head-up the Antitrust Division at the US Department of Justice under president-elect Donald Trump. As Sarah Slater reports, the Dublin lawyer has been in the running for one of the top jobs in the new Trump administration and has now been nominated as assistant attorney general.
Airlines and other parties involved in a series of challenges to seasonal passenger caps at Dublin Airport have agreed certain legal issues must be clarified by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), which takes an average of 16 months to provide a ruling. Ellen O’Riordan was in court.
That move came as DAA boss Kenny Jacobs predicted planners could give Dublin Airport the green light to handle 40 million passengers a-year in coming months, raising the controversial cap at the country’s biggest gateway. Barry O’Halloran reports.
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