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The Digital Hub in the Liberties area of Dublin was designed by Bertie Ahern two decades ago to lure high technology companies to the west inner city.  But the Digital Hub survived and is now home to 59 start-ups and scale-ups.  But plans are afoot to expand into a living as well as working quarter with 550 homes being built. But will they be affordable to ordinary people and will the area be able to attract big name digital clients?   All to discuss with Fiach MacConghail, Chief Executive Officer of The Digital Hub. 

If you've enjoyed a beverage at the Aviva stadium recently you’ll doubtless be familiar with the little electronic boxes on which you tap your card.  They’re provided by my next guest’s company: SumUp.  They’re also used in many pop up food trucks, coffee shops and other places where a fixed line would be too expensive and impractical.  But SumUp are more than just for low value purchases, they also provide much of the software and back office needed by SME. Joining Joe on the show was Niall Mac an tSionnaigh, the Chief executive SumUp Europe. 

Wednesday's business news review along with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

Tourism is a very important part of the Irish economy and a huge employer in rural Ireland. The government is pumping €4.7bn into the sector over the coming years to especially boost tourism outside the capital and the usual hotspots such as Killarney and the Cliffs of Moher. It comes as tourism numbers are declining. They were down 2.8% last year compared to 2024 amid the rising cost of holidaying here and geopolitical tensions. All to discuss with Alice Mansergh the Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland.  

How many of us love booking dental appointments?  And how many of us hate waiting on the line in order to do so.  India Healy O'Connnor has created an artificial receptionist to handle those callers who might otherwise hang up due to delays processing the call.  It sounds quite human and there’s a slight delay as the virtual receptionist processes what you've just asked for, but it could save doctors and dentists money by preventing calls going elsewhere.  The service is call Linda AI and one of the co founders is India Healy O’Connor 

Tuesday's business news review along with Joe Lynam.

Driving to every single household on this sparsely populated and often remote island is no easy task and creates logistical and environmental issues.  But my next guest decided to make every An Post vehicle have zero emissions.  No mean feat when we’re talking about hundreds of them.  In fact the national postal service aims to be net zero by the end of this decade. And it is for that reason as well as the fact that An Post consistently wins prizes for its working environment and trust among the public, that this month's Repak ‘Green Business person of the Month’ is David McRedmond, the Chief Executive of An Post. 

Friday business news and market review with Joe Lynam and Leonie MacCann from Irish life Investment Managers. 

In Davos last week the EU Commission said it was pressing on with the introduction of a new type of European corporate entity, called EU Inc, which would be recognised in all 27 member states.  It would create a single, harmonized set of EU-wide rules for company law, insolvency, staffing, and tax and could save a lot of money. It’s often referred to as the 28th regime and our own Michael McGrath is pushing it forward to simplify doing business is a bloc famed for red tape.  The person who came up with the term EU Inc is the German entrepreneur and investor Andreas Klinger who joined Joe this morning.

The Irish are famously among the biggest tea drinkers in the world.  It used to be a choice of either Lyons or Barrys but increasingly we are branching out in the types of tea we drink including Matcha, Chai and Green tea.  One tea importer in Galway, called Solaris is run by a German couple who have now achieved the rare accolade of a B Corp Status denoting the highest standards in how the business is run.    Jorg Müller, co-owner of Solaris Tea told Joe all about the company. 

Thursday's business news review along with Newstalk Business Editor Joe Lynam.

If you're a small or medium-sized retailer and don't fancy installing expensive wired infrastructure to sell stuff such as coffee, furniture or burgers, then you may be familiar with the small white boxes on which your customers can tap their cards. Often those boxes are fittingly made by the technology company Square which is staying with a geometric theme and is owned by Block, which is run by Jack Dorsey.   Now Block is beefing up its presence in Europe with a headquarters here in Ireland and John O'Beirne, is the CEO of Square International, part of Block and joined Joe Lynom on the show.

If you're a business and you had some of your key staff at arm’s length via a contract in order to avoid PRSI and pension payments, you are rapidly running out of time to get your relationships in order with the tax man. That's because Friday at 5pm is the deadline for you to have declared staffers who weren’t on PAYE, paid any outstanding taxes and or sorted out some sort of payment stream with Revenue. It all stems from a key Supreme Court ruling 2 years ago and joining us to explain it all is. Sandra Brennan, EY Ireland Tax controversy Partner joined Joe Lynam on the show. 

Joe Lynam brings us Wednesday's business news headlines.

Ireland hosts the EU presidency from July and many sectors are hoping that they can magically improve their lot within the European Union in that six month period. Among those are the bankers who want to see a lot more simplification and perhaps even dilution of some of the strict regulations put in place following the financial crisis, caused mostly by the banks. Speaking to Joe to discuss this further was Chief Executive of the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland.