Report finds 2,066 unfinished ‘ghost estate’ developments around Ireland
A new report on ghost estates has found that there are 2,066 unfinished housing developments around Ireland.
Site resolution plans for 770 developments are in place
Govt announces ghost estates plans – Housing Minister Jan O’Sullivan
Local authorities have developed site resolution plans for 770 developments.
211 of these have already been completed, and a further 523 are currently being resolved.
Housing minister Jan O’Sullivan said that authorities are categorising them and taking action to make them liveable.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, the minister said that they are working through the cases gradually, with a focus on completing estates.
She said in a small number of cases where developments, or part of developments are not viable, they may have to be demolished.
Minister O’Sullivan said safety was being prioritised, with over €3m spent on improving living conditions for residents in 128 developments.
NAMA is funding remedial work in 29 developments now under its ownership, and is examining a further 137 sites.
The Health and Safety Authority is involved on 20 sites to ensure developers are complying with safety legislation.
On the issue of who owns the ghost estates now, the minister said there were many different owners.
“In some cases they have been taken over by NAMA, or part of them have been taken over by NAMA. In some cases there are receivers. In some cases the developers are still active, but maybe not very active. And in some cases the issues have been resolved and the local authority has taken over.
“So it’s an ongoing process. It’s obviously a legacy issue from the collapse of the Celtic Tiger but it’s one we are working on very attentively, and with a lot of co-operation from the local authorities.
Lending to Irish SME’s shows increase of 2% this year
Pat Farrell, chief executive of the Irish Banking Federation, said the significance of the report was in confirming the importance of some key relationships.
The level of lending to Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) has increased this year, according to a new study published today.
The SME Lending Study by accounting firm Mazars said total lending to SMEs increased by 2 per cent on the previous study.
However, demand for lending from SMEs still remains low, with just 38 per cent applying for loans in the six month period from October 2011 to March 2012.
Where credit is being sought, it is mainly for renewal/restructuring of existing facilities rather than for growth and expansion, the study found.
According to the study, 72 per cent of credit applications received was fully or partially approved. The total excludes companies whose applications are still awaiting a decision.
Pat Farrell, chief executive of the Irish Banking Federation said the real significance of the Mazars lending study lies in its confirming the importance of a number of key components to the bank/SME relationship. These are: business viability as a basis for securing credit, banks’ responsiveness to the needs of viable businesses and reliable information as distinct from perception as a driver of policy and practice.
“In this regard, we strongly encourage SMEs to apply for credit where they believe they have a sound proposition,” he said.
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Ireland raise’s €500m 1st day back on International financial markets
Ireland raised €500m on international financial markets, the first time it has borrowed money from private investors since it was forced into a European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout.
The positive news out of Dublin was offset by an auction of government bonds in Spain where Madrid was forced to pay the highest rate in over seven months to borrow 10-year funds.
Spanish 10-year yields raised 41 basis points to 6.77 per cent in secondary markets, which mean’s gains from the rally following last Friday’s EU summit deal have nearly been wiped out.
Spanish 10-year yields stood at 6.92 per cent before the summit.
Irish long-term bond yields, by contrast, remained around the lows of October 2010, a month before its bailout, trading at 6.30 per cent for nine-year debt, significantly lower than levels of 7.11 per cent before Friday’s summit.
Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency sold €500m in three-month treasury bills at a yield of 1.8 per cent in an auction the agency hopes will pave the way for medium- and long-term bond issuances later this year or early in 2013.
The agency said the auction was 2.8 times subscribed – it is the first time it has accessed the international capital markets since September 2010.
Dublin is taking advantage of growing investor confidence in Ireland prompted by the country’s adherence to its bailout programme , which could enable the country to restructure some of its massive banking debts.
Dublin has so far pumped €64bn into its banks. The Irish government is pushing to have as much of this debt as possible shifted from the shoulders of Irish to European taxpayers by attracting new funds from the ESM.
It hopes this type of financial restructuring could reduce its national debt from about 117 per cent of gross domestic product in 2013 to below 100 per cent of GDP, making it more attractive to private investors.
Under a deal announced at the summit Europe’s new bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), will be allowed to invest directly in eurozone banks rather than providing bailout funds through sovereign states when a banking union is established.
Alan McQuaid, economist at Dublin-based Merrion Stockbrokers, said Ireland’s economic prospects were improving, which should help it re-enter financial markets.
“Improving tax revenue, a housing market that appears to have bottomed out and the potential for bank debt to be taken off the sovereign balance sheet are positive arguments for a strong performance of Irish government paper in the second half of 2012,” he said.
Although Spain is set to benefit from the EU plans, Madrid was forced to offer investors a pick-up in yields to induce them to buy in auctions on Thursday.
Altogether, Madrid auctioned €3bn in three maturities of bonds. In the one most closely watched by markets, Spain sold €747m in benchmark 10-year bonds at an average yield of 6.43 per cent.
Scrapping of ‘Donegal on Sunday’
and job losses at the Donegal Democrat
Johnston Press, owners of the Donegal Democrat Group of newspapers, has announced a detailed review of its publishing strategy for the Donegal market.
As a result of the review, the company has announced the following proposal today to staff:
* Donegal on Sunday title closes;
* Reduction and re-organisation of editorial resources to focus on the company’s other brand leading titles in Donegal, the Donegal Democrat (Tuesday edition), Donegal People’s Press and the Donegal Democrat (Thursday) and our website www.donegaldemocrat.ie
It is anticipated there will be a net reduction of three full time equivalent editorial roles as a result of this proposal. Prior to any implementation, the company has sought voluntary redundancies and will consult individually and collectively with all staff as appropriate.
It is anticipated that this consultation process will be complete by early August 2012. In the event this proposal goes ahead, the company will endeavour to minimise the impact through re-deployment to alternative positions and voluntary redundancy.
Last month the Scottish-listed media group announced plans to close the Offaly Express newspaper in Tullamore and plans to introduce other cost-cutting measures at its Irish regional titles.
Latest accounts for Johnston Press Ireland Ltd show it made pretax losses of €3.9 million in 2010 and €5.3 million in 2009. Johnston Press revenues in 2010 declined by 25% to €23 million.
The 2010 results included redundancy costs of €1.9 million, which reflected the closure of a print press and restructuring of management in Ireland.
Phil Hogan unveils new plans to boost Ireland’s town centres
Rent and rate-controlled spaces will be the priority of a new Town and City Management Framework unveiled by Retail Excellence Ireland (REI).
Over 6,000 leading retail stores throughout Ireland are supporting the move, launched by Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, right.
The initiative is being seen as a way to reinvigorate towns and cities by establishing ‘Town Teams’, introducing an empty property scheme to rent long-term vacant properties and auditing of a town centre’s performance.
To register support for this initiative or to download the framework, log on to www.retailexcellence.ie
Retail league table to be talk of the towns of Ireland
IRELAND’S top performing towns and cities will be named this summer as part of a plan to boost our ailing retail sector.
Industry group Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) yesterday launched a blueprint to rejuvenate towns and cities across Ireland.
The largest retail industry group in Ireland wants each town and city to draw up an individual marketing strategy.
The REI Town and City Management Framework has been created to encourage town and city stakeholders to work tog-ether to design and implement those plans.
Among the guidelines is the establishment of “town teams” to effectively oversee the marketing of a “town brand”.
REI chief executive David Fitzsimons said: “To counter a drop-off in trade, what we are trying to do is effectively apply the same principles that are applied to large shopping centres to our towns and cities.
“In this way, we can analyse things such as whether a town has the right kind of retail mix, what kind of parking provision it has and then draw up plans to brand the town as a whole and attract large retailers.”
The group will interview 15,000 business people across the country’s largest towns and cities in the coming months. It will then compile a league table of the 100 top-performing towns and cities in Ireland.
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