BUDGET 2015: CHRISTMAS BONUS FOR PENSIONERS BACK ON HE TABLE - Restoring part of the Christmas bonus for pensioners in the Budget is being considered by the Government, the Irish Independent has learned. The Coalition is also finalising its tax relief package, with the raising of the starting point for paying the USC and the cutting of the top rate of income tax on the shortlist. Five years after the Christmas bonus was dropped, the Coalition is looking at the part-restoration of the double social welfare payment. The once-off end-of-year payment for 1.2 million social welfare recipients, including pensioners, carers and the long-term unemployed, would be brought back incrementally over a number of years. A return to the full bonus would give recipients an extra €188 in the run-up to Christmas, but this would cost €260m, so ministers are looking at a part-restoration as a gesture. Tanaiste Joan Burton and her officials in the Department of Social Protection have been examining the option in Budget negotiations. “It’s no way a certainty. We would not be looking at a full restoration,” a senior Government source said. The Budget is entering a crucial stage of negotiations over the next three days. Ministers will hold a special meeting on Friday when the final package will be discussed and then tweaked over the weekend.
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PADDY McKILLEN REFINANCES ULSTER BANK DEBTS - Developer Paddy McKillen and his business partner Padraig Drayne have completed the refinancing of £110 million (€140 million) of their borrowings from Ulster Bank with the support of Bank of Ireland. Mr McKillen said the refinancing, which closed at the end of last week, was the “end of a very turbulent period” and that he has now refinanced all of his Irish banking borrowings, says the Irish Times. The Belfast-born developer said his business empire was now positioned for expansion. “We have worked tirelessly since the economic crash to refinance our debt. Our business has always been robust and profitable and we have strengthened and grown it since the downturn began,” he said. “This refinance marks the end of a very turbulent period that began when the banks became destabilised. We look forward to sustainable growth over the coming years.” Commenting on the refinance, Mr McKillen and Mr Drayne said jointly they were pleased that the Ulster Bank debt had been refinanced with Bank of Ireland.
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'SME BANK' TO START LENDING NEXT YEAR - The State’s new ‘SME Bank’ - the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland - is likely to begin lending within the next quarter, Jobs and Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton, said yesterday. He was addressing the Joint Oireachtas Jobs Committee, outlining planned changes to the Credit Guarantee Scheme - new legislation for which he said the Government hopes to get passed by the Dáil “as quickly as possible” in the autumn session. The Government undertook an independent review of the scheme last year - following a lower-than-expected reaction, in terms of application volumes, says the Irish Examiner. Mr Bruton said that since its launch in 2012, the scheme has supported additional lending of around €15m to 110 companies and has had a “surprisingly strong” impact on jobs, with 870 positions either being maintained or created on the back of company involvement. The new changes are emerging after it was found that the scheme wasn’t overly attractive to banks because of the balance of risk they were being burdened with and the narrow terms of the programme.
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WORLD BANK MOVES TO QUELL STAFF REVOLT - The World Bank’s chief financial officer has agreed to forgo a $94,500 annual bonus in order to quell a staff revolt hitting the bank as the world’s finance ministers and central bank governors gather in Washington for its annual meeting. Jim Kim, the World Bank president, has been facing criticism from staff since he announced plans to radically reorganise the bank’s structure as part of a plan to make $400m in savings. But employees have been expressing increasing annoyance with the changes since they were implemented in July, says the Financial Times. That staff revolt flared again last week after it emerged that Bertrand Badré, who joined the bank from Société Générale in March 2013, was being awarded an annual “scarce skills premium” on top of his $379,000 annual salary. At a hastily called meeting on Tuesday that was witnessed by an FT reporter, Mr Kim told staff members that Mr Badré would be giving up his bonus. But that did not stop the president from facing a tirade of questions from concerned staff who complained of sinking morale, increasing layers of management and a culture of penny pinching as a result of the restructuring. “You can agree on everything you want at the annual meeting but if we are not here to implement whatever you decide nothing is going to happen,” one staff member told Mr Kim.
