Latest news with #DepartmentofEnterprise
Irish Independent
09-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Coalition won't force supermarkets to publish profits as opposition says Irish public being treated as ‘cash cow'
The coalition is coming over increasing political pressure over the cost-of-living with the opposition focusing in particular on the cost of basic supermarket staples which are running up to €3,000 a year. The Minister or State at the Department of Enterprise, Niamh Smyth, said the Government is examining how it can give the Consumer Protection Commission more powers. She was responding to a Dáil motion tabled by the Social Democrats calling for supermarkets with an annual turnover of €10m or more to have to publish their full audited financial accounts, and for fines to be imposed on those that do not. The party's TD for Wicklow, Jennifer Whitmore, who said the cost of living is 'out of control' and nowhere is that more evident than on the supermarket shelves. 'The scale and the speed at which prices are increasing is astronomical and there is no sign of it slowing down,' she said. 'In a few short years, the costs for families has increased by €3,000 per year. Grocery costs are now skyrocketing at three times the rate of inflation,' she said. 'A person can now spend €50 on groceries and carry them out in their hands," she said adding that this is 'not a niche issue' and affects middle-class families as well as poorer ones. Minister Smyth said the Government could not support the proposal for supermarkets to publish profits, because it does not align with EU laws. But she said the Government acknowledges the concerns of families around rising costs and accepts 'food inflation has had a tangible impact.' She said: 'We are progressing legislative reforms to enhance the CCPC's enforcement powers, including the ability to impose stronger sanctions for breaches of consumer protection law.' 'This will ensure that anti-consumer or exploitative practices can be tackled more effectively and with greater deterrent effect. 'It is intended to introduce turnover-based fines for serious breaches of consumer law, ensuring that penalties are proportionate to the scale of the offending business.' ADVERTISEMENT The Labour Party accused the Social Democrats of introducing a 'copy and paste' version of a Bill that it previously tabled. Its spokesperson on finance, Ged Nash, said the grocery market in Ireland is worth at least €8 billion a year but there is no transparency around profits. 'Many of us have long suspected that consumers in Ireland are being gouged by large supermarket chains that use their operations as a cash cow,' he said. 'However, without full transparency on profit levels, it is very difficult to prove this. It is also very difficult for the consumer regulator, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, to do anything other than issue bland statements because, in reality, it has no teeth.'
RTÉ News
09-07-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Govt considering change to laws to address alleged 'price gouging' by supermarkets
Government is considering "enhancing" existing laws to increase fines and make the State's consumer watchdog more "robust" in a bid to address alleged "price gouging" by supermarkets. Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise Niamh Smyth outlined the plans in response to Opposition party concerns over how the average annual cost of groceries for a household has risen by €3,000 in a year. Speaking during a Social Democrats Dáil motion which is calling on any supermarket with an annual turnover of €10 million or more to publish full audited financial accounts, and for fines to be introduced for those that do not, party TD Jennifer Whitmore said there is clear evidence of "price gouging" taking place in the sector. Her view was backed by party colleague Gary Gannon, who said families across Ireland are having to choose "between eating and heating", and fellow Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne, who said food banks have confirmed the biggest growth in people attending are those in "working families". Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty criticised the Government for what he said is a lack of action on the issue, saying Fine Gael minister Neale Richmond promised action on the issue while minister for enterprise in 2023, without significant changes taking place. And similar concerns were raised by Labour TD Ged Nash, who said "if it walks, talks and acts like price gouging, it very well may be", before saying any plans to take action without ensuring steps are taken is the equivalent of the Father Ted reference "can anything be said for another mass?". Responding to the criticism, Ms Smyth said she and Government "acknowledges the concerns raised regarding rising costs" and accepted "food inflation has had a tangible impact". As such, the minister said Government is considering "enhancing" existing laws to increase fines and make the State's consumer watchdog the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission more "robust". However, the minister also said that at this stage the Government cannot support the Social Democrats motion, in part because the €10m annual turnover threshold plan does not align with existing EU rules. She said the CCPC has "advised officials that existing powers are sufficient to analyse markets, request information and take action", and that this has taken place during "high-profile investigations" in recent years.
Irish Independent
02-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Microsoft to lay off Irish staff as part of 9,000 job cuts worldwide
The company's intention to cut Irish jobs was confirmed by the government today. 'The Department received a collective redundancy notification from Microsoft on 2 July,' said a spokesperson for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. 'Any further queries should be directed to the company.' However, a spokesperson for Microsoft declined to give any information on prospective job cuts here. "We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,' she said, when asked about layoffs in Ireland. Microsoft employs around 4,000 people in Ireland, with a further 2,000 people employed at its subsidiary, Linkedin, which has a base in Dublin. The cuts are to be implemented across several divisions and geographical offices, according to the Seattle Times, reporting from Microsoft's global headquarters. The tech giant has said that the layoffs are part of a restructuring effort. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently disclosed that up to a third of programming at the tech company is now done by AI, with a higher percentage likely. ADVERTISEMENT However, the current cuts are thought to be aimed across several job categories, including sales and middle-management. The news comes just days after Intel said that it plans to cut up to 195 jobs from its 4,900-staff Kildare plant. The proposed cuts, details of which have been notified to the government as required under Irish law, would represent 4pc of the facility's workforce, a figure far short of the 20pc floated in a report by Bloomberg earlier this year. No information of staff positions or titles potentially affected have yet been disclosed. Details of financial compensation packages have also not been disclosed. However, the cuts are not expected to take effect before September, following an industrial relations process. The company has previously said that cuts would involve "streamlining the organisation, eliminating management layers', with no further detail on the sectors to be targeted, other than that it intended to shrink expenses in 'R&D, marketing, general and administrative' divisions.
Irish Examiner
02-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Microsoft to cut 4% of global workforce in latest round of layoffs
Microsoft has said it will lay off 9,000 people as part of the company's latest round of job cuts as the tech giant looks to rein in costs amid hefty investments in AI infrastructure. The company employs around 228,000 people worldwide as of June 2024, with the latest round affecting almost 4% of its global headcount. Microsoft has a significant presence in Ireland, employing more than 3,500 people, with its subsidiary LinkedIn employing a further 2,000 workers. The company is required under Irish law to notify the Department of Enterprise of any significant job losses impacting its Irish operations. A spokesperson for Microsoft told the Irish Examiner: 'We continue to implement organisational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace." It is understood that the cuts will affect all geographies, and if applied uniformly, could result in around 200 Irish jobs being impacted. The Windows maker had pledged $80bn in capital spending for its 2025 fiscal year. However, the soaring cost of scaling its AI infrastructure has weighed on margins, with its June quarter cloud margin expected to shrink from last year. Microsoft said on Wednesday that it planned to reduce organisational layers with fewer managers, as well as streamline its products, procedures and roles. The Seattle Times first reported on the layoffs earlier on Wednesday. Separately, Bloomberg News reported Microsoft's Barcelona-based King division, which makes the Candy Crush video game, is cutting 10% of its staff, or about 200 jobs. In 2023, Microsoft cut some 250 Irish jobs across a series of layoffs as the company tried to offset a slump in demand which previously skyrocketed during the covid pandemic. Big Tech peers, which are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, have also announced job cuts. Facebook parent Meta earlier this year said it would trim about 5% of its "lowest performers", while Alphabet's Google has also laid off hundreds of employees in the past year. Amazon has also cut jobs across its business segments, most recently in its books division. The company had earlier laid off employees in its devices and services unit and communications staff. Economic uncertainties and rising costs have triggered layoffs across sectors in Corporate America, as companies rush to streamline operations and hedge against further cost pressures. The Department of Enterprise has been contacted for comment. Additional reporting from Reuters.
Irish Independent
02-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Over 30 jobs to go as Swiss insurance firm pulls out of Dublin
The company said it had decided to put a stronger focus on its core insurance and pensions business in Switzerland. La Mobilière founded the Dublin-based insurtech Companjon five years ago, with the stated aim of opening a new line of business and to get insights into the behaviour of customers in the digital insurance business. Operating on a largely business-to-business model, its insurance policies were embedded in the operations of other companies. When consumers bought goods such as tickets for sporting events, and the seller asked if they wanted to insure the purchase, that type of insurance product was provided by Companjon. Company sources say that as a result of the complex nature of the operations, it will take a couple of years to wind down its offices at Harbourmaster Place in the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin's docklands. 'Not everyone will lose their job straight away. The workforce will be slowly reduced,' one source said. The Department of Enterprise has been informed about the planned redundancies, and consultations began between management and staff yesterday. In a statement, La Mobilière CEO Michèle Rodoni said: 'After gaining several years of experience with embedded insurance abroad and recently developing a new corporate strategy, we came to the conclusion that the further development and scaling of this business area is not in line with our strategic focus on the core business in Switzerland.' The existing embedded insurance policies, the vast majority of which have short-term liabilities, are to be be run off, subject to appropriate approvals being received from the Irish authorities. Companjon has a total workforce of 60 employees with 34 in Dublin and the remaining 26 based around Europe. Helen Nolan, who is chair of Aviva Life and Pensions Ireland, has been a non-executive director at Companjon Insurance DAC, and chaired its audit committee. Other Irish directors included Patrick Manley and Mary Kerrigan. In its most recent financial returns, Companjon recorded a loss before tax of €2.879m for the financial year ended December 31, 2022, with a loss before tax of €10.25m. It said that during 2023, the company had commenced business operations with three new business partners and has successfully concluded contractual negotiations with a new business partner which was due to go live in 2024. "The directors expect the general level of activity of the company to increase further as the existing Companjon Group insurance solutions are made available on an increased number of online transactions and are rolled out to further markets, and as new business partners are onboarded, and new insurance solutions are launched,' the accounts said. "The directors regard investment in this area as a prerequisite for success in the medium to long-term future.' La Mobilière, which was founded as a co-op in 1826, boasts that it is Switzerland's oldest private insurance company. It has 6,600 employees in its home markets of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and a further 350 trainees.
