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Purchase of cloud computing services by Irish enterprises increases

A report released yesterday by the Central Statistic Office (CSO) has shown that 36% of Irish enterprises employing 10 or more persons purchased cloud computing services in 2016, compared to 35% in 2015.

Finland had the largest percentage of enterprises in the EU purchasing cloud computing services at 57%, while both Bulgaria and Romania had the lowest take up rate at 7%. The most popular cloud computing service purchased by Irish enterprises in 2016 was the storage of files at 27%, while 26% of Irish enterprises purchased e-mail services.

Furthermore, the report shows that Irish enterprises ranked 4th in the EU when paying for Internet advertising. Thirty four per cent of Irish enterprises reported to have paid to advertise on the internet in 2016, such as on search engines, social media and other websites. The EU-28 average was 25%.

The most popular advertising method was based on webpage content or keywords searched by users with 27% paying for this method. Fifteen per cent opted for advertising based on the geolocation of internet users with 13% based on tracking internet users’ past activities or profile. Sixteen per cent opted for other targeted advertising methods.

Not surprisingly, over half of large enterprises conduct their sales electronically. In 2016, 52% of large enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 46% of total sales of such enterprises.

Twenty six per cent of small enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 23% of all sales in this size class. Forty seven per cent of medium sized enterprises had e-Commerce sales which accounted for 22% of their total sales.

Article Source: Business World

UK is the Top Destination for Emigrating Irish Professionals

The UK is the top destination for emigrating Irish professionals during the year to October 2016, according to new data released today by LinkedIn.

According to the data, 28% of talent that left Ireland moved to the UK with net losses in the healthcare, architectural & engineering and professional services sectors between both countries.

The report shows that Ireland continues to be a net beneficiary of professional migration with more talent moving to the country than emigrating.

The software sector attracted the most professionals with the Irish tech industry continuing to lure talent to the country thanks to the presence of a range of multinationals and a flourishing indigenous industry.

India, France, Brazil and Italy respectively accounted for the largest contribution of professionals moving to take up positions in the Irish software sector.

LinkedIn’s data revealed that the top five sources of professionals moving to Ireland during the period were Brazil, India, Italy, France and Australia. The industries that experienced the largest levels of growth were:

1. Technology (Software)
2. Architecture & Engineering
3. Healthcare
4. Technology (Hardware)
5. Oil & Energy

In contrast the regions that attracted the most professionals from Ireland were United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Germany and Spain.  While a significant proportion of UK professionals also moved to Ireland, more Irish talent moved across the Irish sea resulting in a net loss.

The countries that accounted for the largest shares of net migration to Ireland were:
1. Brazil
2. India
3. Italy
4. France
5. Australia

The countries that accounted for the largest shares of net migration from Ireland were:
1. United Kingdom
2. United States
3. Canada
4. Germany
5. Spain

For more on this article, please visit: Business World

Irish economy is the best in EU again

Ireland’s economy grew by 7.8% last year, making it the fastest growing economy in the Europe Union for the second successive year after growth accelerated sharply in the final three months of the year.

Ireland has rebounded quickly from a 2010 international bailout and its economy benefited in 2015 from further falls in unemployment, a bumper year for retail sales and a weak euro that boosted the country’s large export sector.

The economy expanded by 2.7% on a quarterly basis from October to December, up from 1.5% in the previous quarter, the Central Statistics Office said.

The government had forecast that growth in the economy might exceed 7% and the official forecast for 2016 of 4.3 percent would likely see it retain the mantle of the best performer in Europe.

While sterling’s recent depreciation against the euro may hit export growth this year – given Britain’s trade clout with Ireland – economic data in the first two months have been broadly positive.

Thursday’s figures showed personal consumption rose by over 3% last year, indicating that the domestic economy can pick up any slack.

Robust gross domestic product (GDP) growth is only gradually filtering down to many people, however, and was one of the major factors behind voters rejecting the country’s outgoing coalition at elections last month.

The election produced no clear outcome, making Ireland the latest euro zone state to face a prolonged political stalemate which senior ministers say could take weeks to break.

For more on this article, please visit: Business World

Almost a third of company owners are unsure of who to vote for in general election

BDO have today released findings from their quarterly poll of business leaders regarding election concerns.

The BDO Optimism index is a quarterly survey of 350 Irish Businesses.

It has been conducted every quarter for over six years by leading market researchers Behaviour and Attitudes. Respondents are all Business owners, CEO’s or leading Managers within the organisations.

When asked which political party best represents their needs, 31% of businesses said they were still undecided, and 14% said none of the parties. Thirty per cent of business owners said Fine Gael best addressed their business’ needs, Fianna Fáil 7%, Labour 2% and Sinn Fein 2%.

Eighty per cent of company owners said they would like to see the next government make changes to employee related taxes, with 78% saying the next government needs to improve Ireland’s infrastructure.

A total of 50% of all businesses surveyed said Brexit is issue, an increase from the 35% who raised the issue as a significant concern in the previous BDO poll during the summer of 2015.

Difficulty securing credit and funding from financial institutions is still a problem for business despite the upturn in the economy over the past number of years, with 56% of those surveyed saying they’d like to see the next government address the issue.

For more on this article, please visit: Business World

Ireland signs up to tackle tax avoidance by multinationals with 30 other OECD countries

Ireland is among 31 OECD countries that have signed up to the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement designed to tackle tax avoidance and evasion by multinationals.

The move follows concerns about how some multinationals move their profits to countries with lower corporation tax rates.

It means these multinationals must now pay tax in the country where the profits are made and they will have to disclose their earnings from each jurisdiction and share it.

The development comes at a time of new transfer pricing reporting standards by the OECD’s Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Sharing.

Article source: Irish Independent

ISME has warned that business competitiveness is decreasing steadily due to rising business costs

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME), has warned that business competitiveness is decreasing steadily due to rising business costs. The association expressed concern at the increases in labour, insurance, local charges and utilities, disguised in the overall inflation figure of 0.1%.

ISME points out that December the change in the Consumer Price Index was +0.1% in the year and -0.1% in the month.

For more on this article, please visit: Business World