Former International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission chief to Ireland, Ajai Chopra has criticised the European Central Bank’s (ECB) overseeing of Ireland's bailout.
In a report for the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the European Parliament, he said that the ECB prioritised protecting its own balance sheet at the expense of the Irish taxpayer.
Mr Chopra also criticised the letter sent by the then President of the ECB Jean-Claude Trichet to the late Brian Lenihan threatening to cut off emergency support for Ireland's banks if it did not seek a bailout - describing it as “gratuitous.”
“The letter also made demands in the areas of fiscal austerity and structural reform that were not only beyond the ECB’s remit but were also wrong for Ireland’s circumstances,” he wrote in the report.
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Economic growth in Germany slowed during the third quarter - the economy expanded by 0.3%.
This comes against the backdrop of a number of gloomy forecasts for the global economy, and the Volkswagen emission cheating scandal
Its economy grew by 0.4% in the previous quarter.
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Rolls Royce shares took a nosedive overnight - falling by 20% after the company issued its fourth profit warning in just over 12 months.
It said that weakening demand in its aero-engine business may force the company to cut its dividends.
The British firm revealed that its profit next year may be 30% below current estimates.
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Pre-tax profits at the private healthcare facility, the Blackrock Clinic, jumped by nearly 24% last year to €13.6m while revenues rose 11% to €103m.
According to the clinic’s latest accounts, the strong performance was boosted by additional capacity and by an increase in day-care and in-patient activity though it notes that competition amongst healthcare providers following the opening of new hospitals, continued to erode profit margins.
The clinic, which has been the focus of a long-running legal dispute between two of its key shareholders, Joseph Sheehan and Larry Goodman – each owning just under 30% - paid out dividends totalling €4m last year.
It’s a big employer – with 724 people employed directly and another 114 indirectly. Staff costs amounted to €39m.
