Inside Business with Ciaran Hancock

This week we are looking at the phenomenon of the D4 farmer. Not some wealthy entrepreneur herding cattle in Ballsbridge but wealthy individuals buying up farmland around the country as a wheeze to reduce the inheritance tax bills for their children.How does the tax break work? What impact will it have on land prices? And is anything being done to change it?Fiona Reddan of the Irish Times wrote a brilliant article on this last week and she joins host Ciarán Hancock in studio, along with Marty Murphy, who is head of tax at IFAC Ireland, one of the country’s biggest accounting firms with a large number of farmers on its books.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week host Ciarán Hancock is joined by Willie Walsh, the director general of IATA, the Geneva-based representative group for the airline industry.Willie will be known to you as the Irish man who was a high-profile chief executive of both Aer Lingus and British Airways.He then became head of IAG, which is the parent group to both of those airlines plus some Spanish carriers, including Iberia.He’s now in charge of IATA, with his contract set to run until 2027.You’ll hear Willie talk about airline profits and whether air fares are likely to go up or down in the near term.He spoke about aviation’s role in reducing harmful carbon emissions and the chances of a climate-friendly biofuel being developed for commercial use.He gives his view on why emerging markets such as India and burgeoning economies in Africa are entitled to grow their airline industries and passenger traffic as they become wealthier.He also expresses his frustrations with the inefficient way air traffic control is managed in Europe.And Willie explains why, in his view, Ireland has become something of a laughing stock on the international stage over the legal battles being fought around the Dublin Airport passenger cap. In his view, this is hindering growth here and jeopardising foreign direct investment. And the 63-year-old talks about his plans for retirement, which could include Italian wine. Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we’re flying high with the Irish drone delivery company Manna.Its founder and chief executive is Bobby Healy, who joined host Ciarán Hancock in studio to discuss what he believes is Manna’s massive growth potential.Set up in 2019, Manna only recently began generating revenues and is yet to turn a profit. It is currently flying nine drones in Dublin 15 and has made more than 170,000 deliveries in Ireland so far.It has another eight drones operating outside Ireland. But that is just the tip of the iceberg.You’ll hear Bobby’s ambitious plans for expansion into the United States and the Nordic countries and how it would need 45,000 drones just to serve the UK market.And he wants to manufacture all of those drones in Ireland.It’s a cash hungry company with plans to raise many millions of dollars from investors but Healy is thinking big and believes Manna can become Ireland’s biggest corporate success story.Of course, not everyone is delighted by having drone deliveries in their areas and Healy addresses some of those complaints in the interview.An engaging entrepreneur, Healy has previously sold three travel tech companies. So, he has form in this space.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Conall Mac Coille, chief economist at Bank of Ireland, joins Cliff Taylor and Ciaran Hancock to talk about Irish economic and business news:RPZ reform: will changes to rules for landlords and tenants help bring investment to Ireland IFAC report: why Ireland's corporate tax receipts may be about to boom again. But will it last? Produced in association with EY. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Donald Trump’s second term in the White House has seen markets go through a period of extreme volatility, something that has worried many Irish pension holders. How should they react? Should they react at all? And what is the outlook for the rest of this year?Munro O’Dwyer is a partner at PwC Ireland and joins host Cliff Taylor in studio to discuss managing your pension in volatile times. In the second half of this episode of Inside Business, Irish Times Economics Correspondent Eoin Burke-Kennedy looks at why so many companies are pulling back from their pledge to go green and lower carbon emissions.This alarming trend is worrying given the latest analysis by the Environmental Protection Agency that shows that Ireland is going backwards in its attempts to achieve its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions targets.So why the about-face on an issue that affects us all? Is reaching net zero emissions simply not realistic for many companies? Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New electric vehicle sales here dipped last year by 24% when compared to 2023, further making a mockery of the government’s target of 1 million EVs on Irish roads by 2030.A reduction in the SEAI grant and gaps in charging infrastructure fed into consumer uncertainty when it comes to making the switch from petrol and diesel vehicles.But that trend looks to be reversing this year, something that Lisa Brankin, chairman and managing director of Ford UK & Ireland, will be keen to see accelerate.She joined host Cliff Taylor in studio to discuss the challenges of going electric, her plans for the company’s future, and the launch of Ford Power Promise across Ford’s range of electric cars in Ireland.Also on this week’s episode of Inside Business, AIB’s Economic Outlook Report for May highlights how global uncertainty and an escalation in trade tariffs could lead to a slowdown in global and Irish growth in 2025 and 2026.That said, the report also points out that the Irish economy has built up a certain level of resilience to withstand a potential trade shock in the short term.AIB Chief Economist David McNamara went through the risk US tariffs and future US tax policy pose, and the outlook for 2025 and 2026.Produced by John Casey and Suzanne Brennan with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week brought more bad news for first time buyers and those renting.Figures from both the CSO and property website Daft.ie suggest that house prices and rents continue to soar across the country. The national monthly average rent between January and March surpassed €2,000 for the first time. And the chronic shortage of supply for those looking to buy put house price inflation at 7.5% in March.To discuss these numbers and to tease out some potential solutions to the housing crisis, host Ciarán Hancock was joined by Eoin Burke Kennedy, economics correspondent of The Irish Times who has reported on the data.And by Marian Finnegan, an economist and a senior executive at Sherry Fitzgerald, Ireland’s biggest estate agent.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s episode of Inside Business starts with an interview with Irish entrepreneur Jordan Dargan.Fans of the popular BBC show The Apprentice, will have seen Jordan come within a whisker of reaching the final two who got to pitch to secure Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment.There was some consolation for the 22-year-old Dubliner with Lord Sugar giving him his business card before he left the boardroom and encouraging him to keep in touch. Jordan joined host Ciarán Hancock in studio to detail his experience on the Apprentice, how the business he pitched to Lord Sugar has developed since recording finished last year, and offers he has received here to pursue a career in media.Earlier this week, US president Donald Trump pressed for drug companies to invest more in the United States and to lower their prices for medicines.So, what would that mean for the Irish pharma sector, which exports a huge amount of medicines to the US each year.Dominic Coyle of The Irish Times has covered the story and goes through Trump’s proposals and the possible implications for Irish pharma.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Earlier this week, US meal delivery group DoorDash agreed a deal to take over its British rival Deliveroo, which has a big presence in Ireland.The deal is valued at £2.9 billion and will pit the merged group in competition with other online delivery platforms such as Just Eat and Uber Eats.Callum Cant is an author and senior lecturer from the University of Essex and also worked for Deliveroo while he was in college.He joined host Ciarán Hancock on the line to discuss the merger and what it might mean for Deliveroo’s battalion of gig economy workers and for retailers using the online ordering platform.Also on this week’s Inside Business, the Department of Finance’s annual progress report on the Irish economy, a document that informs budgetary strategy and is filed with the European Commission.This week it brought news of a slowdown in growth, reduced job creation and a significant fall in corporation tax receipts.Eoin Burke-Kennedy covered the story for The Irish Times and explained the headline numbers in the report and what impact Trump’s tariffs will have on Irish economic growth this year.Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Inside Business looks at the impact of Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office on markets. The sweeping US tariffs announced on April 2nd rocked equity and bond markets.They plunged in value to such an extent that Donald Trump was forced into a quick U Turn, postponing all of the tariffs for 90 days, with the exception of China.Aidan Donnelly is Head of Global Equities at Davy stockbrokers and joined host Ciarán Hancock in studio to consider the impact of those tariffs and to offer a view on where markets might go for the rest of the year.In the second half of the show, Hugh Linehan of The Irish Times will reflect on the terms being offered in RTÉ’s latest voluntary exit programme for staff in an effort to help the broadcaster reduce its headcount by 400 over the next four years.The funding for this restructuring has essentially been provided by the State via a €725 million three-year funding plan agreed last year with the Government.In a column in The Irish Times this week, Hugh Linehan of The Irish Times examined the plan and asked the question as to whether RTÉ was in a worse position than other media companies in Ireland?Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.