LOBBY GROUP URGES LOWER VAT RATE ON NEW HOUSES - The volume of housing delivered in 2017 and 2018 will be determined by “policy decisions made within the first 100 days of the new government”, according to lobby group Property Industry Ireland (PII).
The group has issued a policy paper to Government and the various political parties and groupings in the new Dáil calling for a number of policy reforms to stimulate house building and tackle homelessness, says the Irish Times. These include the appointment of a cabinet-level minister for housing, infrastructure and planning, a reduction in the VAT rate to 9% for the lifetime of the next government, and speedier planning decisions so that it takes no more than 16 weeks for adjudication from a local authority and An Bord Pleanála. The 14-page document was distributed to the relevant Government departments and the various parties and groupings in the past two weeks. It wants a minister with oversight of housing infrastructure and planning policy to be appointed for three years, reporting directly to the Taoiseach. PII says there are currently more than 12 government departments and agencies with a role in setting and enforcing housing policy in Ireland. “The focus of that minister must be on overcoming barriers within the political process which are delaying the delivery of new, high quality, affordable housing,” PII’s paper states.
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BRITISH WITHDRAWAL 'COULD BE WORTH €6 BILLION', NTMA BELIEVES - Brexit could result in a €6 billion boost to the level of foreign direct investment into Ireland, the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has said.
In an investor update, the State's debt management agency said foreign firms in the UK could consider relocating, says the Irish Independent. "This may be especially pertinent for firms who use the UK as a base for its EU operations," the NTMA note said. "Ireland could be a beneficiary from this displaced FDI. Estimates suggest some €6bn of FDI might be attracted to Ireland in the case of a Brexit." The NTMA said that in the event of a UK exit, some companies may be forced to move within the EU in order to properly service the single market. "Dublin would be an obvious choice for relocation," it said. But it added that the amount of relocated activity would depend heavily on the outcome of post-exit trade discussions. Martin Shanahan, chief executive of the IDA, told the Independent earlier this month that the prospect of a UK exit from the EU is causing international investors to look at alternatives to Britain. He said IDA's conversations with companies have "increased and heightened" because of the uncertainty around a Brexit.
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UNION REJECTS ULSTER BANK PENSION PROPOSAL IN THE NORTH - IBOA, the finance union, has challenged Ulster Bank’s proposal to increase the cost of its defined benefit pension scheme for 1,500 staff in the North.
The bank is looking to hike the cost of its pension scheme in response to changes being introduced by the UK government, says the Irish Examiner. Ulster Bank’s national insurance employer contributions will increase by £1m (€1.28m) per year from next month as part of UK pension reforms. The bank’s proposal is to pass these costs onto staff members who are part of the organisation’s defined benefit scheme by requiring them to pay an extra 2% of their salary - 1% in October and the rest the next year. The proposal would not affect workers in the Republic. IBOA, the union representing the bank’s workers in the North, has rejected the proposal, arguing it would undo recent pay increases. “By imposing this additional burden on its workers, Ulster Bank would effectively wipe out the modest pay rises secured by our members recently,” said IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick.
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VALEANT CHIEF TO STAND ASIDE AS BITTER INFIGHTING CHURNS BESIEGED DRUGMAKER - Valeant, the besieged Canadian drugmaker, said its chief executive would step down and blamed its former finance director for accounting irregularities as its battle to halt a slide towards debt default descended into bitter public infighting.
The departure of Michael Pearson followed the collapse in Valeant’s already battered shares last week, when investors dumped its stock after it raised the prospect of a default on its more than $30 billion of debt and bungled the release of earnings forecasts. He took over at Valeant in 2010, when it was a tiny drugmaker and proceeded to turn it into one of the biggest forces in global pharmaceuticals through a string of debt-fuelled acquisitions, says the Financial Times. But it has lurched from crisis to crisis since last year after short sellers accused it of accounting fraud and politicians said it was fleecing customers. Mr Pearson is staying on temporarily while the company finds his successor, while hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, one of its largest investors, is joining the board. Valeant took the unusual step of blaming its former chief financial officer, Howard Schiller, for providing incorrect information to the company’s auditors, PwC, which it said had resulted in the group submitting several erroneous filings to the US securities regulator.
