NOONAN: I'LL PUT AWAY BILLIONS FOR A RAINY DAY - Finance Minister Michael Noonan is planning to set aside billions from the resources available to the next government to create a 'rainy day fund'.
The move means Fine Gael will not be promising to put all the predicted proceeds of economic growth - not windfall gains - into tax cuts and spending. In an interview with the Irish Independent, Mr Noonan said: "The reserve will be a fiscal buffer against unexpected shocks." The cash will be allocated in the Budget either to reducing the national deficit or extra spending, depending upon what the economy needs at the time. The Government will also take on board the advice of the Fiscal Advisory Council. Meanwhile, Mr Noonan says "no direct threat" was made by Jean-Claude Trichet the European Central Bank to prevent the burning of bondholders. Mr Noonan also says negotiating with the ECB on debt reduction was worth more to the country in the long run.
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NO NEW HOMES FOR SALE IN DUBLIN CITY CENTRE - No newly built apartments or houses are available to buy in Dublin city centre, new figures reveal.
Numbers recently compiled by the four Dublin local authorities show that of 56 newly built housing schemes currently on sale in Dublin city and county, only 15 have homes available for less than €300,000 - the Coalition's "starter homes" threshold. Just eight of the 56 developments have apartments for sale and, of these, only two are in the city council area. All are significantly above the affordability threshold and outside the city centre, writes the Irish Times. The Department of the Environment's senior planner, Niall Cussen, said the figures represented a "hollowing out" of the city centre. "The only people going to be able to live in the city are people on incomes of €80,000, €90,000, €100,000 or more," he said. The Seascape apartments in Clontarf have two-bedroom apartments with prices starting from €425,000 and three-bedrooms from €600,000. Estate agent Sherry FitzGerald said the three-beds had all sold and the three or four two-bed apartments remaining were priced at €475,000 to €570,000. Further up the price scale is 55 Percy Place, which has recently gone on the market. It is offering 12 two-bedroom apartments on the Grand Canal near Baggot Street from €750,000 to €1.25 million.
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AIRCOACH ENJOYS DRAMATIC TURNAROUND WITH €3m ANNUAL PROFIT - The operator of the Aircoach public transport service enjoyed a dramatic turnaround in fortunes in its last financial year by recording pre-tax profits of €3m.
Newly-filed accounts for Last Passive Ltd - a subsidiary of Aircoach’s ultimate owner, UK company FirstGroup - also show a 20% jump in annual revenues to €21.83m for the 12 months to the end of last March. The return to profit follows two consecutive loss-making years, with the coach service operator incurring a pre-tax loss of €773,000 in 2014, says the Irish Examiner. “Aircoach’s revenues continue to increase due to the previous expansion to include the non-stop express services on two major route corridors and as a result of the improving general economic climate,” the company’s directors said. They add that “the company remains ideally-placed to benefit from the planned liberalisation of public transport markets both in the Republic and Northern Ireland”.
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STAVELEY HITS BARCLAYS WITH £1 BILLION SUIT OVER 2008 CRISIS CAPITAL CALL - Barclays has been hit with a lawsuit for nearly a £1 billion from Amanda Staveley, the deal-maker with a host of Middle Eastern connections, over the lender’s emergency £5.8 billion fund-raising in 2008.
Ms Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners has sued Barclays in London, according to a court listing dated earlier this week. While it gave no details of the nature of the dispute, the bank confirmed that it turned on its capital call at the height of the financial crisis, reports the Financial Times. The bank said in a statement: “We believe the claim against Barclays is misconceived and without merit and Barclays will be vigourously defending it.” Ms Staveley declined to comment. The lawsuit adds to the bank’s woes over the cash call, which has resulted in a contested £50m fine from the financial regulator and a parallel, ongoing criminal probe by the Serious Fraud Office, which has interviewed several former top executives at the bank, including former chief executives Bob Diamond and John Varley. The bank has denied wrongdoing.
