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https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2024/04/16/single-restaurant-closure-can-cost-state-more-than-1m-suggests-rai-report/ I think it's very tough at the moment on restaurants and cafés. Costs have gone up. In particular, the minimum wage has gone up to a very high level. But despite the high...

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2024/04/15/bring-back-the-cheap-bedsit-it-should-never-have-gone-away/ Studio apartment rents should be capped at €500 a month in cities, and at €300-€400 where they exist in towns and villages. This is still expensive for a lot of people who need basic...

I was asked about this recently and said I would check it out. The person has about €400k in an ordinary pension fund and a financial advisor suggested an SSAP and investing in property. I didn't like the sound of that. This post suggests that they are no longer viable...

I was a big fan of Currency Fair until their procedures changed recently. There have been big complaints about delays in transferring money and terrible customer service when people ring to find out where their money is. So I have just used Wise and it was fairly straightforward. Much better...

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2024/04/05/aib-plans-to-mop-up-worthless-small-stakes-once-valued-at-up-to-120000/ [AIB will ] launch a so-called odd-lot offer to acquire as many as 20 shares from individual investors, according to meeting documents posted this week. Sellers would be...

https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0405/1441779-investment-fraud/ Investment fraud occurs when criminals pose as investment managers to trick someone into investing money in schemes and projects that do not exist. Gardaí said that criminals are cloning web pages and targeting victims through online...

I have used Toutless a fair bit and it's a terrible pity that they can't accept new users as they are being inundated by scammers. https://www.toutless.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=42783

I have been told of a scheme in Cork City Council where they will buy a house from a 70 year old single person for 60% of the market value and rehouse them in more suitable house. The person is on a very low income. I had not heard of this before. What is this scheme and does it apply to...

According to RTE, the Minister will be bringing draft legislation before the Cabinet this morning. https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2024/0327/1440162-bill-to-introduce-pension-auto-enrolment-to-go-to-cabinet/ Brendan

The Ombudsman issued his Annual Report for 2023 this morning and I have extracted and attached the section on Tracker Mortgage complaints.

https://www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2024/03/25/scammers-drain-womans-revolut-account-and-fintech-comes-looking-for-more/ “I got a phone call from someone claiming to be from Revolut asking had I bought something from Amazon for €79.99,” her mail starts. “I said ‘no’ so they said ‘Let me...

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2024/03/21/regulators-block-dublin-airport-authoritys-car-park-bid/ I had never used this car park as I live near enough to the airport to get the bus or a taxi. But it seems to me that it makes sense for Aer Rianta to own all the parking and coordinate it...

This issue comes up from time to time (e.g. here ) , and my instinct is that it is wrong. But I want to check my instinct. What are the rules about cashing a pension early? If you have an old pension fund, say €100k, and you hit 50, you can access it early. This means you can take €25k...

Spammers post messages with links in them. These links can be dangerous. They also damage the reputation of askaboutmoney. For that reason we do not allow new users to put working links in messages. When you become an established poster, you can post links. An established poster must have...

I have not read it yet, but attended the launch yesterday. As far as I can make out, there is nothing new in it. Of if there is, their speeches did not highlight anything new. Brendan The Central Bank of Ireland is delighted to announce today, the launch of Consultation Paper 158 on the...

I was planning to drive to Cork today but have woken up to a blanket of snow. Little mention of it on RTE. They spoke mainly about roadworks and delays. Met Eireann mentions snow but not road conditions. TODAY - Friday 1st March Rain, sleet and snow in Ulster and north Leinster will move...

The Ombudsman has published a decision on this issue and has upheld AIB's decision to pay simple interest. I have no idea how well the complainant argued the case. I attach the decision and will study it in detail later. Brendan

I was astonished when I saw this headline in today's Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2024/02/28/lorcan-sirr-there-are-more-than-18000-houses-to-rent-on-airbnb-vs-2000-on-daft-something-is-very-wrong/ But it's a false comparison. An airbnb property will be almost permanently...

I was speaking to someone recently who said she was denied a Contributory OAP because she gave up employment when she got married. I didn't get the full details but I reckon she would probably get some Contributory OAP based on the following Paid employment: c 15 years Bringing up children...

I recently got a Virgin 360 box and some channels are pixelating. Most are ok. Channel 4 and BBC 2 were very bad. There was a bit on RTE 1 but it seems ok. I switched off the box and switched it back on, but the problem persists. Brendan