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Theresa May will make appointing a cabinet minister to take charge of Brexit one of her first tasks as she takes the keys to No 10.

Britain’s new prime minister will swiftly begin drawing up her new top team and is expected to increase the number of women in government.
David Cameron will take to the Despatch Box in the House of Commons for his last session of questions as PM in the House of Commons before the historic shift of power takes place.

He is expected to make a statement in Downing Street highlighting how he has overseen Britain’s economic recovery, before heading to Buckingham Palace to offer his resignation.
Mr Cameron told The Daily Telegraph it had been “a privilege to serve the country I love”.

“I came into Downing Street to confront our problems as a country and lead people through difficult decisions so we could reach better times,” he said.
“As I leave, I hope people will see a stronger country, a thriving economy, and more chances to get on in life. It has been a privilege to serve the country I love.”

Mrs May will then have an audience with the Queen, when she accepts the monarch’s offer to form a new government and will, in keeping with tradition, “kiss hands” with the head of state.
She will return to No 10 as the country’s second female prime minister.

Removal vans were seen on Tuesday as Mr Cameron, wife Samantha and children Nancy, Arthur and Florence, packed up at their home since 2010 and prepared to return to a life outside the gates to Downing Street.
Taking his last Cabinet meeting, the outgoing PM spoke of his “honour and pleasure” at having served for six years and told colleagues Mrs May was “the right person to lead the country wisely through the difficult times ahead”.

Although a Remain supporter, Mrs May has repeatedly stressed that “Brexit means Brexit” and the hunt for a building to house the department that will steer Britain out of the European Union is already under way.
After presenting herself as the unity candidate, the incoming leader is expected to offer plum posts to leading figures from both camps in the EU referendum.

Mr Osborne looks unlikely to stay on as Chancellor after the PM-to-be trashed parts of his economic legacy in a campaign speech on Monday, with Philip Hammond, who has long coveted the role at the Treasury, among those who could take over.
Senior Brexiteer Chris Grayling will be rewarded for his role running Mrs May’s campaign.

Andrea Leadsom, whose shock withdrawal from the leadership race meant the expected nine-week leadership campaign was truncated to just a couple of days, is expected to be offered a job in recognition of her raised profile.
Big question marks are hanging over the future of Brexit standard-bearers Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, who were seen to have blotted their copy-books in the wake of the referendum result.

Mrs May, a founder of the Women2Win group to increase the number of female MPs, is keen to see more women in “prominent” roles.

A spokeswoman for Mrs May said: “Civil servants have already been charged with finding a building to house the Brexit department – an indication of Theresa’s commitment to get on with delivering the verdict of EU referendum. Brexit means Brexit and we’re going to make a success of it.”
They added: “It was Theresa that set up the campaign to elect more female MPs to parliament – and she has always believed that there should be more women in prominent government positions.”

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

Official figures showing the economy grew by an unprecedented 26pc last year have been roundly dismissed as “farcical and meaningless”.

Worryingly, the true size of the country’s economy is now a mystery because of the distorting effect of foreign companies registering here in order to avoid paying tax elsewhere.
The country’s status as a magnet for US multinationals and aircraft-leasing has resulted in our economic output – on paper – soaring.

However, in reality, this alleged growth was driven by companies with little presence here but which are registered in Ireland and so have their activities counted in the statistics.
The Central Statistics Office figures resulted in our international reputation being damaged.

One of the most respected economists in the world, Nobel prize-winner Paul Krugman, mockingly referred to our “leprechaun economics”.
Ireland has been widely praised internationally for the speed of the recovery since the crash. But doubts will now be cast on that picture.

Public Spending Minister Paschal Donohoe played down a possible giveaway budget as the figures seemed to show a booming economy.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and Bibby Financial Services Ireland (BFSI) have launched a new €45m invoice financing fund for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

The new fund makes more favourable rates for BFSI’s invoice finance facilities accessible for Irish firms and is available immediately.
Invoice financing frees up cash for company by giving them up front payment against the value of outstanding invoices. The deal marks the SBCI’s first venture into invoice financing.

Finance minister Michael Noonan welcomed the new fund.
“This new €45 million package further diversifies the funding available to SMEs at a critical time for Irish businesses especially those who include exports to the UK as part of their sales.

“It is a welcome fact that Bibby Financial Services is a global business with a strong presence throughout the UK and Ireland. Irish SMEs are now in a position to benefit from SBCI funding available through an expert Invoice Finance provider,” Mr Noonan said.
BFS chief executive Steve Box said he was “delighted” to announce the partnership.

“At a time where there is some uncertainty in markets across Europe, the most basic support that SMEs need to grow and scale-up their businesses is access to finance. Our €45m facility agreed with SBCI will enable us to deliver lower cost, more flexible and competitive funding solutions to SMEs throughout Ireland.
“While there is still a high level of dependency on traditional banks amongst SMEs, we are seeing a growing appetite for alternative sources of finance and we look forward to helping Irish businesses to thrive and grow, both domestically and internationally.”

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

European Union finance ministers endorsed on Tuesday a deficit sanction procedure for Spain and Portugal, paving the way for the EU executive to propose possible fines in the next 20 days.

The European Commission said last week that Madrid and Lisbon had not done enough to correct their excessive budget deficits last year and in 2014, beginning a formal procedure that may lead to sanctions, so far never applied.
In a regular meeting in Brussels, EU finance ministers backed the Commission’s assessment, in a widely anticipated decision.

Fines up to 0.2pc of GDP may be imposed if the excessive deficits aren’t reduced, although sanctions so far have never been applied.
The Council of EU finance ministers will decide on the Commission’s recommendation at their regular meeting on July 12, a spokeswoman for the EU’s Slovak presidency told Reuters.

Ministers could reject the Commission’s assessment only with a qualified majority of its members, making it very unlikely that the Council may oppose the Commission’s recommendation.
After the Council’s decision, the Commission will have to propose sanctions “within 20 days”, the EU executive said in a document.

Spain and Portugal may therefore be fined by July 27, the last meeting of the European Commission before the summer break, an EU official told Reuters.
The two countries have been under EU’s excessive deficit procedure since 2009 because of surging fiscal gaps following the 2007-08 global financial crisis. In line with the procedure, the Commission set annual targets to gradually reduce their fiscal gaps.

But in 2014 and 2015, Spain and Portugal missed the agreed objectives, maintaining deficits well above the 3pc limit.
Last year, Spain had a 5.1pc deficit, higher than the required 4.2pc. Portugal was required to cut its deficit to 2.5pc of GDP in 2015, but instead had a 4.4pc deficit. (Reuters)

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

The Irish economy grew, in GDP terThat’s dramatically faster than the 7.8pc growth rate estimated in March, the Central Statistics Office said this morning.

The dramatic hikes were due to contributions from the likes of the aircraft leasing sector and multinationals -increases in the stock of capital assets of companies, company relocations, a massive jump in net exports due primarily to contract manufacturing, and in part to inversions.

The revised data is due to “more complete and up to date data” than what was available earlier this year.
GNP, which strips out the activities of multinational companies based here, grew by 18.7pc in 2015. The earlier estimate was for 5.7pc.

Net exports in 2015 grew by 102.4pc, while total domestic demand increased 9.9pc.
GDP fell by 2.1pc in the first three months of this year, compared with the previous quarter. GNP rose by 1.3pc, the CSO said.

But year-on-year, GDP rose by 2.3pc and GNP increased 10.6pc.
Net exports in the first three months of this year rose 11.2pc, but investment declined by 16.1pc.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said the debt-to-GDP ratio is now expected to be around 80pc – considerably lower than the 88pc noted in the Summer Economic Statement published last month.
“Other indicators, including tax revenue published last week, consumer spending and labour market data are all consistent with an economy where recovery is firmly established,” Mr Noonan said, in a statement.

“I think the figures released by the Central Statistics Office show that Ireland’s economy continues to grow. Peoples’ lives are improving with more at work than at any time since the onset of the downturn. We no longer need to impose swingeing cuts to public services rather we have room to invest in services and infrastructure. Ireland is now in a position where we borrow relatively small amounts at very low rates which ensure that investment is made in delivering more than the bare minimum of services to our citizens. These are all evidence of a country growing in real terms.”
But economist Jim Power dismissed the 26pc figure as “meaningless”.

“It is impossible to interpret what’s going on,” he said.
“There’s clearly a lot of balance sheet accounting transactions going on that are seriously distorting what is happening in the economy. What we have to do is look at what is happening on the ground. We need to look at employment, unemployment, tax revenues and consumer spending and consumer confidence.

“What they suggested in 2015 and what they’re suggesting in the first half of 2016 is that there is a reasonable level of economic activity going on. It feels like an economy growing at a rate of 4pc, 4.5pc, but it certainly doesn’t feel like a 26pc economy. I think in terms of international interpretation to what’s going on here, it’s a meaningless exercise.”ms, by 26.3pc last year, according to revised official figures.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

Average rents of €200 to €250 per week per room at Montrose

Ziggurat, the UK-based developer of student accommodation behind the conversion of the former Montrose Hotel into student accommodation, has acquired a number of key sites in Dublin’s north city centre as part of its plans to build up to 4,000 new student units in Dublin, Cork and Galway.
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A number of the firm’s Dublin sites have just been acquired on Dublin’s Upper Dominic St, just off Bolton St in the north inner city where a 380 bed facility will be built and linked by the new Luas line to both the DIT campus at Grangegorman and Trinity College.
A second site on dublin’s North Circular Road, also adjacent to the DIT Grangegorman campus will see accommodation for 420 students built, bringing the total number of bed spaces targeted towards the new DIT campus and TCD come to 800.

The sites in question include the former Michael H textile plant acquired from Small Firms Association Chairman, AJ Noonan, and two former Arnotts car park sites controlled by developer Noel Smyth.
Close proximity to the LUAS means that the proposed student accommodation buildings will be no more than 15 minutes door-to-door from Trinity College.

Subject to planning, the firm expects to bring about 800 student rooms on stream in Dublin during 2019.
It is estimated the projects will require close to €100m of capital investment.

Ziggurat has plans to ultimately invest close to €400m in developing 4,000 student rooms in cities across Ireland.
As part of its overall €400m investment plan, Ziggurat has also acquired a site on Cork’s Western Road close to UCC for a 200 bed facility and expects to build up to 1,000 student rooms in both Cork and Galway over the next three years.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

European stock markets were seen opening higher on Monday, according to pre-market calls from financial bookmakers, tracking gains on Asian and US equity markets.

Britain’s FTSE 100 was seen opening up by 30-34 points, or 0.5pc higher. Germany’s DAX was seen up by 91-98 points, or 0.9-1.0pc higher, while France’s CAC . was seen up by 31 points, or 0.7 percent higher.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

The pace of construction sector expansion quickened last month, new figures indicate.

Faster rates of activity, new orders and employment were all recorded in June, according to the Ulster Bank’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).
The benchmarked index provides a snapshot of economic performance. It recorded the fastest increase in constriction activity for three months.

Simon Barry, a chief economist at the Ulster Bank, said while part of the period covered was post-Brexit referendum, it was too early to assess the impact of the UK’s vote to leave the EU.
“The June Construction PMI survey was conducted over the second half of the month, with the majority of responses returned prior to the UK referendum result,” he said.

“Thus, while some respondents knew the outcome of the referendum when responding to the June survey, it is too soon to judge the extent of any Brexit-related impact on confidence and activity in the construction sector.
“In fact, the June results show that Irish construction firms are strongly optimistic about the prospects for future growth over the coming year.

“Sentiment improved sharply last month and was just lower than the record high recorded in late 2014.
“So while the PMI survey results will bear particularly close watching in the months ahead, the encouraging strength of activity, orders and sentiment at the end of the second quarter indicates that the Irish construction sector carries solid momentum into the second half of the year.”

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

Cutting the UK’s corporation tax rate to 15pc would boost foreign investment there by almost 11pc and reverse any declines suffered as a result of Brexit, a think tank has said.

Chancellor George Osborne has unveiled plans to aggressively cut the country’s corporate tax to less than 15pc to woo businesses deterred by Brexit. That will place it in direct competition with Ireland in terms of foreign direct investment.
It would take Britain close to the 12.5pc corporation tax rate in Ireland, which has been a cornerstone of our economy and helped attract major employers, including Apple, Pfizer and Google.

The London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) said the move would be successful, boosting FDI into the UK by 10.7pc.
Its president, Douglas McWilliams, said there is a push in the UK to cut the corporate tax rate further, with one eye on the success achieved by Ireland.

“We’re copying you,” he told the Irish Independent.
“We’ve looked at the experience of an island very close to us and they seem to be successful at attracting inward investment with a low corporate tax rate. It does strike us that copying what you’re doing in Ireland isn’t an entirely silly idea.

“I think there is a very strong drive [in the UK for a lower corporate tax rate]. We obviously don’t know who is going to be the next Tory leader in a few weeks’ time, but all the movers and shakers on the economic side are basically going that way. It’s fairly cost-free.
“It does have an initial cost but five years down the line there is no exchequer cost at all. So there’s not very much to say whey they would not do it.”

The UK has radically closed the tax gap in recent years.
In 2008, the UK corporation tax was 30pc, and now it looks set to become half that rate. It is already set to fall to 17pc by 2020.

“We have run the impact of cutting the rate to 15pc in April 2017 instead of to the 19pc rate currently planned for that year,” Mr McWilliams said, in his analysis.
“The results are fascinating. Borrowing in 2017/18 is £3.2bn more; by 2020/21 it is £1.8bn less and by 2025/26 it is £5.2bn less.

“Investment is boosted by 10.7pc after 10 years and GDP by 1.5pc after the same time.”
And he suggested the UK could go even further, and adopt a 10pc rate.

“Indeed there is an argument for moving to a system where corporates are taxed at an ultra low rate and taxes only charged on distributions through dividends and corporate pay.
“A 10pc corporate tax rate could – according to the model – boost GDP by nearly 5pc additionally and would pay for itself in five years.”

He said the optimal strategy to get the UK economy moving again might be a mix of lower top rate personal taxes and lower corporate taxes.

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42

US officials have gone to court demanding answers from Facebook about the tax due when the social media giant moved key assets to Ireland.

It is claimed that the value of assets transferred by Facebook to its Irish subsidiary in 2010 may have been “understated by billions of dollars” by the social media giant’s accountancy firm, Ernst & Young. The case puts the spotlight on how multinationals use Ireland for effective tax planning. Facebook’s European headquarters are in Dublin, and it employs hundreds of people in Ireland.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is conducting a deep level probe of Facebook’s activities in Ireland and other jurisdictions in order to properly determine the company’s federal tax liability in relation to 2010. As part of that probe, it wants to examine records from 2008 to 2012.

The so-called intangible assets transferred from Facebook in the US to Facebook Ireland included territorial rights in its “online social networking community of users”.
Intangible assets are often difficult to value, and can also include items such as copyrights and trademarks.

But due to budgetary constraints, the IRS is now running out of time to finish its investigation. The statute of limitations relevant to the case expires at the end of this month.

The IRS has asked a California court to force Facebook to comply with summonses it was served with by the agency in June. Those summonses, the IRS said in court, were served by its agent, Nina Wu Stone, on Facebook chief financial officer, David Wehner, on June 1.
The IRS has also noted that it asked Facebook to extend the statute of limitations in the case, but that Facebook refused unless the IRS agreed to “unacceptable conditions”.

The tax authority has argued in a San Francisco court that Facebook has failed to comply with the June summonses and asked that it now be forced to do so by the court. The summonses were due to be complied with by June 17.
“Facebook failed to comply and did not produce the books, records, papers and other data demanded in the summonses,” the IRS alleged. It said it has previously provided some requested information in relation to the probe, but none of the information requested in the summonses served last month.

Activities
In 2013 and 2014, the IRS gathered information from Facebook – to understand how Ernst & Young (E&Y) undertook its valuations in relation to the asset transfers in question.

“The information gathered suggested to the IRS examination team that the E&Y approach to valuing Facebook’s transferred intangibles on a stand-alone basis was problematic,” the agency has told the court. Facebook’s US operation earned royalty income from the assets it transferred to its Irish arm.
The IRS wants detailed information on a wide range of Facebook activities.

A spokesman for the company in Dublin said: “Facebook complies with all applicable rules and regulations in the countries where we operate.”

Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42