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Housing squeeze pushing sale prices well above asking prices

Almost 40 per cent of Irish housing transactions are now settled at a 10 per cent premium above the original asking price, reflecting what Bank of Ireland describes as “the intense competition for homes”. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.
Employment in the Irish funds sector has grown sharply over the past three years but regulation and the availability of talent domestically are the two biggest factors likely to affect the industry’s growth, a new report published on Monday has highlighted. Ian Curran has the story.
Qualcomm intends to pursue a bid for Intel, in what would be a blockbuster deal with potentially big implications on Intel’s operations in Ireland.
Eoin also reports that Generative AI could potentially automate over 80 per cent of tasks in nearly one third of all jobs, according to a new survey. The study by consultancy Sia Partners said the rapid expansion of large language models (LLMs) and GenAI technologies will usher in a major shift in how work will be performed.
Tax changes in the last budget, particularly the rent tax credit, has led to a marginal reduction in the living wage. As Eoin reports, the Living Wage Technical Group (LWTG) said it had revised down the minimum hourly pay required for a full-time worker (without dependents) to afford the basic goods and services to €14.75. It said it based the calculation on “the real costs faced by employees in Ireland” determined by changes “in these living costs and income taxes”.
Has Sinn Fein missed its electoral moment? Long the coming party in Irish politics, it now finds its polls flatlining and is struggling to manage the issue of immigration. In his column, Eoin looks at the issues at play.
The report of the scoping inquiry into schools abuse was another damning verdict on the Irish legal system, writes SC Philip Stevens. An overhaul of rules around class action lawsuits and third party funding would make a difference to victims in cases such as this, he writes.
Finally, as more companies such as Amazon push staff back to the office, Emma Jacobs warns against the danger of romanticising how effective the office was at pushing innovation before the pandemic. It wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
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