Paschal Donohoe, Finance Minister, has visited Tipperary today to meet with business owners and local public representatives to gauge reaction to the Budget.
The Minister attended an event in the Hotel Minella in Clonmel and said that the new energy cost support scheme was the dominant issue.
The new scheme provides qualifying businesses with a payment, capped at €10,000 per month, for their energy costs.
The scheme is to run until the end of February – Minister Donohoe hopes that by then the energy challenges will not be as intense as at present.
In the longer term the opportunity for employment and income form producing energy was one that Ireland could exploit according to the Minister.
The Minister defended the role of the Banking Regulator (the Central Bank) as the Bank of Ireland was fined €143,600,000 today for it’s role in the Tracker Mortgage Scandal between August 2004 and June 2022.
Bank of Ireland’s failures resulted in the loss of 50 properties, including 25 family homes.
Bank of Ireland has admitted in full to 81 separate regulatory breaches. Today’s fine comes following an investigation that began in 2016.
The Minister defended the Government’s performance on housing delivery and said that this year’s budget of €4B needs to continue year on year.
He accepted that the Government needed to do more to tackle vacancy and the supply of housing.
The Minister would not be drawn as to a preferred portfolio following December’s expected Cabinet changes when Leo Veradkar will become Taoiseach and Micheal Martin takes the position of Tánaiste under the terms of the agreement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.
