The Government has set up a €200m fund to finance infrastructure in an effort to restart stalled building sites.

The money will be used to pay for water connections, electricity links and roads for building projects.

Speaking to RTÉ News, Minister for Housing James Browne said: “I can think of one piece of land in a particular county that has quite a lot of infrastructure in place, but it is missing quite an expensive access road that the local authority would never be able to fund.”

He added financing the road would “unlock a significant amount of housing in that particular site”.

He said: “There are multiple sites like that right around the country in every local authority area.”

Local authorities will be able apply for the funding next month and the finance will be available from January.

The Minister made the comments at the first meetings of two groups aimed at providing infrastructure for building projects.

The first group is made up of representatives of the building industry and property investors.

The second includes Uisce Éireann, Eirgrid, ESB, the Land Development Agency and Government Departments.

Article Source – €200m fund set up to restart stalled building projects

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000

The Central Bank has fined cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Europe €21.5m for breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing transaction monitoring obligations.

The breaches occured between April 2021 and March 2025.

Coinbase Europe, which is part of the Coinbase Group, provides crypto asset and wallet services to customers globally to facilitate their use of its trading platform to buy and sell crypto assets.

In a statement, the Central Bank said that as a virtual asset service provider, Coinbase Europe is required to monitor customer transactions on an ongoing basis.

Where it suspects that a transaction is facilitating money laundering or terrorist financing it is required to file a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) with the national Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and Revenue as soon as possible.

The Central Bank said that Coinbase Europe has been fined due to faults in the configuration of its transaction monitoring system, which resulted in over 30 million transactions not being properly monitored over a 12-month period.

The transactions contained suspicions associated with serious criminal activities including money laundering, fraud, drug trafficking, cyber attacks and child sexual exploitation, the Central Bank said

The value of these transactions amounted to over €176 billion, and accounted for about 31% of all Coinbase Europe transactions conducted in the period when the faults existed, it added.

The regulator also noted that it took Coinbase Europe almost three years to fully complete the monitoring of the impacted transactions. This subsequent monitoring led to the reporting of 2,708 STRs to the FIU for further analysis and potential investigation, it added.

Today’s fine is the Central Bank’s 162nd enforcement outcome to date, bringing the total fines imposed by it to over €428m.

Coinbase Europe has accepted that it breached its transaction monitoring obligations by failing to fully and properly monitor 30,442,437 transactions; adopt internal policies, controls and procedures to prevent and detect the commission of money laundering and terrorist financing and conduct additional monitoring in respect of 184,790 transactions.

Colm Kincaid, the Central Bank’s Deputy Governor – Consumer & Investor Protection – said to be effective in combatting financial crime, law enforcement agencies rely on regulated financial institutions to have systems in place to monitor transactions and report suspicions.

“The failure of such a system within any financial institution creates an opportunity for criminals to evade detection – and criminals will take that opportunity,” he said.

He said that crypto has particular technological features which, together with its anonymity-enhancing capabilities and cross-border nature, makes it especially attractive to criminals looking to move their funds.

“This is why it is especially important that firms engaged in crypto services have robust controls in place to identify and report suspicious transactions. Where system failures do occur, it is imperative that they are reported to the Central Bank without delay so that appropriate actions can be taken to manage and mitigate the risk,” he added.

In a statement, Coinbase said today’s settlement is a result of “certain technical coding errors” that impacted how it monitored crypto transactions in 2021 and 2022.

It said these errors led it to only partially screen certain customer transactions. When it re-reviewed those customer transactions, it ultimately filed roughly 2,700 suspicious transaction reports with the Irish Government.

It also said that it and the Central Bank can not say that the affected transactions actually resulted in criminal activity.

Coinbase said it had built a Transaction Monitoring System (TMS), which is software that analyses financial transactions to detect suspicious patterns or anomalies that it may need to investigate.

In building this TMS system, Coinbase said it inadvertently made three coding errors that caused five of the 21 TMS scenarios to not fully screen all transactions in 2021 and 2022. For example, crypto addresses separated by special characters were overlooked by these scenarios.

These coding errors did not impact the other TMS scenarios that screened transactions, or Coinbase’s complementary compliance controls, it added.

Coinbase said it identified these coding errors as part of its efforts to monitor and test its compliance systems. Once detected, it fixed the coding errors within two to three weeks, it added.

It then ran all of the impacted crypto transactions back through the now fixed five TMS scenarios, which it said took a longer period of time to complete.

It said this review identified approximately 185,000 transactions that compliance needed to investigate further. Coinbase Europe Limited processed around 97 million crypto transactions during this period.

As well as fixing these coding errors, Coinbase said it took steps to prevent these types of errors from happening again – enhancing testing and monitoring of TMS scenarios, including before any code changes are made to the system, to prevent inadvertent errors.

“Coinbase recognises the importance of effective AML procedures and takes our obligations under AML legislation and regulatory guidance very seriously,” it said in today’s statement.

“Our goal has always been and will always be to build the most trusted, compliant, and secure platform in the world,” it added.

Article Source – Central Bank fines Coinbase Europe €21.5m for anti-money laundering breaches

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000

Tesla shareholders have approved a massive pay package for CEO Elon Musk that could reach $1 trillion.

The pay package – crafted to ensure Mr Musk’s continued service to the electric vehicle manufacturer as it pursues breakthrough technology on AI and robotics – won more than 75% support from shareholders, a Tesla official said at the company’s annual meeting.

Shares of Tesla rose about 1% in after-hours trading on Wall Street last night.

The shareholders vote, analysts have said, is a positive for Tesla’s stock, whose valuation hangs on Mr Musk’s vision of making vehicles drive themselves, expanding robotaxis across the US and selling humanoid robots.

Mr Musk took to the stage in Austin, Texas, along with dancing robots.

“What we are about to embark upon is not merely a new chapter of the future of Tesla, but a whole new book,” he said.

“This really is going to be quite the story.”

Shareholders also reelected three directors on Tesla’s board and voted in favour of holding annual elections for all board members and a replacement pay plan for Mr Musk’s services because a legal challenge has held up a previous package.

“Other shareholder meetings are like snoozefests, but ours are bangers,” Mr Musk said. “I mean, look at this. This is sick.”

Shareholders voted in favour of Tesla investing in Mr Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, though there were many abstentions.

Although conflict-of-interest concerns have arisen over Tesla’s possible investment in xAI, the move is seen as widely benefiting both companies as the EV maker’s self-driving ambitions hinge on critical AI prowess and xAI would gain from a major customer like Tesla.

A win for Mr Musk was widely expected as the billionaire was allowed to exercise the full voting rights of his roughly 15% stake after the automaker moved to Texas from Delaware.

Some major investors had opposed the plan, including Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and proxy firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services, saying the pay could decrease shareholder value.

Tesla’s board had said Mr Musk could quit if the pay package was not approved.

Under the new package, Mr Musk could earn as much as $878 billion in Tesla stock over ten years.

He could be given as much as $1 trillion in stock but will have to make some payments back to Tesla.

The vote allays investor concern that Mr Musk’s focus has been diluted with his work in politics as well as in running his other companies, including rocket maker SpaceX and xAI.

The board and many investors who lent their endorsement have said the nearly $1 trillion package benefits shareholders in the longer run as Mr Musk must ensure Tesla achieves a series of milestones to get paid.

Goals for Mr Musk over the next decade include the company’s delivering 20 million vehicles, having one million robotaxis in operation, selling one million robots and earning as much as $400bn in core profit.

But in order for him to get paid, Tesla’s stock value has to rise in tandem, first to $2 trillion from the current $1.5 trillion, and all the way to $8.5 trillion.

Article Source – Tesla shareholders approve $1tn pay package for Elon Musk

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000

ISME, which represents small and medium businesses, has called on the receivers appointed to the parent company of Fastway Couriers to take immediate steps to ensure that goods currently in transit are either delivered to buyers or returned to vendors without delay.

The association said it has received a huge number of reports from affected businesses across Ireland who have been left without clarity as to the status of goods entrusted to the courier service.

Last week, it was confirmed that Fastway’s parent company Nuvion Group had entered receivership.

The company said sustained inflation, rising operating costs and ongoing price pressures had made it no longer viable in its current form.

ISME said it has received reports of perishable goods being spoiled in transit, and vendors being forced to refund customers while having no access to their stock.

The association added that the receivership has come at a critical time of year, when pre-Christmas stock is being shipped.

“Goods in transit do not form part of Fastway’s assets and are not subject to the receiver’s charge,” said ISME CEO Neil McDonnell.

“These goods belong to small businesses that are already operating under extreme cost pressures,” he said.

“Resolution of this issue months from now will be far too late for many and could threaten their viability,” Mr McDonnell added.

The jobs of around 300 directly employed staff have been put under threat by the receivership, with hundreds of additional jobs impacted among subcontractors, franchisees and solo operators across the delivery network.

On Monday, Fastway employees and couriers staged a protest outside the company’s depot in Greenogue, Co Dublin.

They said they have been left in limbo.

The workers said they have been told they are still working for Fastway for 30 days from the day the receivership was announced, but will not get paid until the New Year and cannot claim social welfare benefits until the 30 days period is past.

Joint Receivers Mark Degnan and Brendan O’Reilly from Interpath said today they understand the significant concern and disruption caused by the receivership.

“We are working diligently across all areas of the business to manage what is a highly complex situation in an orderly and fair manner,” the receivers said.

“As a priority, we are following the appropriate legal and operational processes to safeguard assets, communicate with clients and support affected employees, contractors and retailers,” they said.

“Every effort is being made to ensure that parcels currently held within the network are handled in line with these procedures and that clear information to customers is provided as soon as possible,” they stated.

“We appreciate that this situation is frustrating for businesses, customers and staff, particularly given the timing and proximity to the busy trading period, and we ask for patience as we continue to work methodically through the issues to ensure the best possible outcome for all stakeholders,” the receivers added.

Article Source – ISME calls for Fastway receivers to ensure goods in transit are returned or delivered

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000

A new ‘Global Talent Tracker’ from recruitment firm Hays and Oxford Economics has ranked Ireland 33rd out of 35 global economies.

The country’s workforce was ranked poorly in the areas of talent value and flexibility, driven by high operational costs and growing pressure on skills availability in key sectors.

“The findings reflect the pressures of a market nearing full employment, where rising business and wage costs present an ongoing need to enhance productivity,” the report found.

Ireland also received a low ranking for talent development pointing to the importance of continued investment in education and training infrastructure.

Ireland’s workforce ranked highly in innovation and participation, but concerns over high costs and skills pipelines impacted the country’s overall rating.

Overall, the report places Ireland behind European competitors such as Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK, and Germany.

“Ireland continues to benefit from a highly skilled and innovative workforce, but the findings suggest there are opportunities to strengthen our position further on the global stage,” said Barney Ely, Senior Managing Director for Ireland at Hays.

“The report highlights the importance of ensuring that investment in talent aligns with value creation and underscores the need to continue developing the skills pipeline required for tomorrow.

“Encouragingly, the report positions Ireland as a country with strong potential to lead through innovation, adaptability, and its commitment to education and workforce development,” Mr Ely said.

Article Source – Ireland ranked 33rd out of 35 economies in ‘Global Talent Tracker’

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000

A new report from a Government advisory group has found that artificial intelligence (AI) jobs have doubled in Ireland since 2023.

The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) also found that Ireland is among the top performing countries in the world in respect of both the demand for and the supply of AI talent.

The EGFSN concludes that there are significant potential upsides for productivity growth, given the likelihood that AI will augment many current jobs and occupations.

“At the same time, workers and employers will have to reskill and upskill to adopt new technologies so as to fully reap the benefits,” the report found.

“The impact on overall employment levels is less clear cut,” it added.

The expert group warned that there are several implications for the education sector, with the pace of change within AI posing a particular challenge given the need to provide up to date courses from instructors with the skills needed to deliver cutting edge instruction in AI related skills.

“More generally, the increasing reliance on AI assistance could have potentially negative impacts on basic cognitive skills, which needs to be nurtured and developed across the education system,” the report found.

The expert group said it will be important to keep a close eye on AI developments, and that supports ranging from digital skills programmes to critical infrastructure will be integral to the future success of AI across the economy.

Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke welcomed the report.

“The report shows that we continue to have the highest levels of STEM graduates per capita in the EU,” Mr Burke said.

“We know we need to future-proof our economy, and we will continue to invest in the jobs of tomorrow in areas such as AI, as technology continues to evolve,” he added.

Minister of State with responsibility for AI Niamh Smyth said the EGFSN’s report shows that AI has genuine potential to address productivity gaps and labour shortages.

“Particularly positive is the strong demand for AI skills matched by solid supply,” Ms Smyth said.

“However, as this report rightly notes, Government must continue to monitor and address any risks AI may pose to our workforce,” she added.

The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs advises the Government on future skills requirements and associated labour market issues.

Article Source – Artificial Intelligence jobs doubled in Ireland since 2023 – report

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000

One criticism made of governments and civil servants in the past is that they did not plan sufficiently for the future.

The State-appointed Commission on Taxation recommended in 2021 that officials carry out a long-term analysis of what the decades ahead might hold.

That deep dive into the next 40 years was published yesterday.

The senior civil servants who wrote it described their findings as “stark”.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe lavished praise on the authors but also said some of the scenarios in the report were “really alarming”.

The research looks at the changing demographics and what their impact will be on the economy and society.

It says Ireland will face a surge in its older population and falling tax revenues by 2065.

It says the national debt will rise dramatically and will be one and a half times the size of Ireland’s national income, or €117,000 per person.

It also warns of an increasing deficit, or the difference between revenue and spending, will widen enormously until it reaches 8% of national income.

The deficit and debt figures are in danger territory approaching the level where investors in bond markets would be reluctant to continue lending money to Ireland to keep the country going.

The report is written on the basis that there would be no changes in policies to avert fiscal disaster.

The idea is that it would prompt politicians to take action in future years.

The document says at present there are 116 people in the labour force in Ireland for every 100 not working.

By 2065 there will be 98 workers for every 100 not working.

“Ireland’s ageing population is projected to result in a stagnating labour force, suppressing economic growth, increasing the dependency ratio and straining the public finances,” it says.

The report says that “continued inward migration will be vital to maintain growth in the labour force”.

The ballooning national debt will also result in a larger interest bill for the State. That is spending which delivers little benefit to citizens.

Climate costs are going to accelerate too as Ireland faces more extreme weather events and has to invest in decarbonisation.

It says the housing crisis is likely to persist until the 2040s until the increase in building catches up with demand.

But that projection is based on the current Government meeting its commitment of construction of 300,000 homes by 2030.

That is a target which many opposition politicians say will be missed.

Mr Donohoe was asked yesterday what the Coalition was doing to address the concerns raised in the report.

He responded that the Government was running surpluses, putting money into two long-term savings funds and investing in infrastructure.

He added auto-enrolment of pensions will commence in January which will mean more retirement benefits for additional workers.

The Department of Finance has done the State some service by telling the unvarnished truth.

The reality is that future governments will have to raise more taxes to pay for the surge in outgoings.

And that is not a politically popular message.

Article Source – Stark reality: future threatened by debt and ageing

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000

From ChatGPT crafting emails, to AI systems recommending TV shows and even helping diagnose disease, the presence of machine intelligence in everyday life is no longer science fiction. Yet, for all the promises of speed, accuracy and optimisation, there’s a lingering discomfort. Some people love using AI tools. Others feel anxious, suspicious, even betrayed by them. Why?

The answer isn’t just about how AI works, but it’s about how we work. We don’t understand it, so we don’t trust it. Human beings are more likely to trust systems they understand. Traditional tools feel familiar: you turn a key, and a car starts. You press a button, and a lift arrives.

But many AI systems operate as black boxes: you type something in, and a decision appears. The logic in between is hidden. Psychologically, this is unnerving. We like to see cause and effect, and we like being able to interrogate decisions. When we can’t, we feel disempowered.

This is one reason for what’s called algorithm aversion. This is a term popularised by the marketing researcher Berkeley Dietvorst and colleagues, whose research showed that people often prefer flawed human judgement over algorithmic decision making, particularly after witnessing even a single algorithmic error.

We know, rationally, that AI systems don’t have emotions or agendas, but that doesn’t stop us from projecting them on to AI systems. When ChatGPT responds “too politely”, some users find it eerie. When a recommendation engine gets a little too accurate, it feels intrusive. We begin to suspect manipulation, even though the system has no self.

This is a form of anthropomorphism, attributing humanlike intentions to nonhuman systems. Professors of communication Clifford Nass and Byron Reeves, along with others have demonstrated that we respond socially to machines, even knowing they’re not human.

We hate when AI gets it wrong
One curious finding from behavioural science is that we are often more forgiving of human error than machine error. When a human makes a mistake, we understand it. We might even empathise. But when an algorithm makes a mistake, especially if it was pitched as objective or data-driven, we feel betrayed.

This links to research on expectation violation, when our assumptions about how something “should” behave are disrupted. It causes discomfort and loss of trust. We trust machines to be logical and impartial. So when they fail, such as misclassifying an image, delivering biased outputs or recommending something wildly inappropriate, our reaction is sharper. We expected more. The irony? Humans make flawed decisions all the time. But at least we can ask them “why?”

For some, AI isn’t just unfamiliar, it’s existentially unsettling. Teachers, writers, lawyers and designers are suddenly confronting tools that replicate parts of their work. This isn’t just about automation, it’s about what makes our skills valuable, and what it means to be human.

This can activate a form of identity threat, a concept explored by social psychologist Claude Steele and others. It describes the fear that one’s expertise or uniqueness is being diminished. The result? Resistance, defensiveness or outright dismissal of the technology. Distrust, in this case, is not a bug – it’s a psychological defence mechanism.

Craving emotional cues
Human trust is built on more than logic. We read tone, facial expressions, hesitation and eye contact. AI has none of these. It might be fluent, even charming. But it doesn’t reassure us the way another person can.

This is similar to the discomfort of the uncanny valley, a term coined by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori to describe the eerie feeling when something is almost human, but not quite. It looks or sounds right, but something feels off. That emotional absence can be interpreted as coldness, or even deceit.

In a world full of deepfakes and algorithmic decisions, that missing emotional resonance becomes a problem. Not because the AI is doing anything wrong, but because we don’t know how to feel about it.

It’s important to say: not all suspicion of AI is irrational. Algorithms have been shown to reflect and reinforce bias, especially in areas like recruitment, policing and credit scoring. If you’ve been harmed or disadvantaged by data systems before, you’re not being paranoid, you’re being cautious.

This links to a broader psychological idea: learned distrust. When institutions or systems repeatedly fail certain groups, scepticism becomes not only reasonable, but protective.

Telling people to “trust the system” rarely works. Trust must be earned. That means designing AI tools that are transparent, interrogable and accountable. It means giving users agency, not just convenience. Psychologically, we trust what we understand, what we can question and what treats us with respect.

If we want AI to be accepted, it needs to feel less like a black box, and more like a conversation we’re invited to join.The Conversation

Article Source – Why do some of us love AI, while others hate it?

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000

The average cost of rebuilding a home has risen by 7% nationally in the past year, according to the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland.

That is a slightly faster pace of price growth than was seen in 2024, but is slower than the 12% increase recorded in 2023.

Rebuild costs have also risen at a considerably faster pace than general construction inflation, which the SCSI estimated to be at 3% earlier this year.

According to Gerard O’Toole, president of the Society of Chartered Surveyors, this difference was due to a number of factors.

“Bear in mind rebuilding by its nature includes demolition and there are significant levies,” he said, citing the recently-introduced Waste Recovery Levy and the Landfill Levy, which was brought in over a year ago.

“The nature of these types of works – they’re builders employed doing one-off builds, small extensions and house refurbishments – they’re typically the type of builder that are going to be rebuilding in the event of fire and storm damage,” he said. “It’s very labour intensive and that generally reflects much higher costs.”

The SCSI report also shows a wide variance in rebuild inflation across the country – with average costs up 3% in Cork, but as much as 9% higher in the north-west.

Rebuild costs in Dublin are estimated to be 5% higher year-on-year, costs in Galway and Limerick were 7% higher while they had risen by 8% in Waterford and the north-east.

This reflected the low availability of skilled labour in different parts of the country, according to Mr O’Toole.

“It’s really driven by the level of activity in a region in any given time and often in the smaller markets there’s just a more limited pool of tradespeople,” he said. “The country, in terms of broad economic output, is at full employment and there’s a significant capacity problem in terms of the construction industry.

“There’s just that limited pool – we are upwards of 80,000 short in skilled labour across the construction industry and it’s a significant ongoing problem.”

If a property is under-insured the homeowner would be left to cover any shortfall in the event of a rebuild.

This would also impact the amount an insurer would pay out in the event of a partial rebuild.

“For example, if somebody with a three bedroom, semi-detached house somewhere in the country – the actual cost is about €400,000 to rebuild it in the event of a total claim,” said Mr O’Toole. “If they’re insured for €300,000 and the claim is maybe €100,000, they’re going to get €75,000 off their insurance company, leaving a deficit of about €25,000.

“The insurance company has, within their fine print, got a policy that says if you’re inadequately insured you’re going to have to pay the difference.”

This, he said, is why it is critical for homeowners to check their policy and make sure it covers the estimated cost of their home’s rebuild.

However Mr O’Toole said increasing the amount an insurance policy covers does not automatically mean a similar increase in a customer’s premium – and he encouraged people to shop around and ensure they are getting the best deal possible.

“It’s a very competitive market,” he said. “Ring around, contact your existing insurance company – but also contact others and see what the best rate is.”

Article Source – Home rebuild costs up by 7% in past year – SCSI

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000

23,085 new electric cars have been sold so far this year, up almost 40% on the same period last year.

When all engine types are included, 123,858 new cars were sold in the fist ten months of the year, up 3.4% on 2024.

The figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that petrol cars continue to dominate the new car market, accounting for over 25% of new car sales during the period.

This was followed by hybrid petrol electric cars at 22.5%, electric at 18.6%, diesel at 17% and plug in electric at almost 15%.

“While October new car registrations declined by 9% when compared to the same month last year, year-to-date new car sales remain over 3% ahead, with a total of 123,858 new cars registered,” said Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General.

“October’s new battery electric car registrations indicate growth in every county, with 709 units registered, an increase of 34% when compared to October 2024, marking the tenth consecutive month of growth in EV sales.

“Year-to-date EV registrations have now reached 23,085 units, a 39% increase on the same period last year,” he added.

Toyota is the overall top selling new car brand so far this year, followed by Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai and Kia.

The most popular models are the Hyundai Tucson, Skoda Octavia, Kia Sportage, Toyota Yaris Cross and the Toyota RAV 4.

Volkswagen is the top selling EV brand, followed by Kia, Hyundai, Tesla and Skoda.

The Volkswagen ID.4 is the most popular EV model, followed by Tesla Model 3, Kia EV3, Tesla Model Y and Kia EV6.

Article Source – New electric car sales up almost 40% so far this year

Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000