Sixty-four per cent of businesses intend to upgrade their online presence in the next 18 months, with the Irish online market predicted to grow to €21bn by 2017.
Retail Excellence Ireland says it is “not surprised” with decrease, pointing to the timing of the Budget and ‘kite flying’ by the Government for the fall in consumer sentiment.
Supermarket share analysts say the notion of the ‘big shop’ not as popular as before – while supermarket market grows slightly here for second month in row.
There’s still a month to go but Christmas lights have been turned on in cities around the country and ads for Christmas shopping are everywhere. Have you started shopping yet?
Only two out of five of us will be able to get through Christmas just on our regular income – although credit card use is set to drop, according to Irish credit unions.
MINISTER JAMES REILLY has started a campaign to control the costs of health insurance this week with the appointment of an independent expert to chair a forum of providers.
The Fine Gael TD has voiced his disappointment at rising premium prices in recent weeks but insurers insist they have been forced into the increases because of higher charges for public hospital beds and a government levy.
Regardless of where the expenses originate, the customer has experienced annual hikes in their payments, to the point where many have reduced their cover or cancelled it entirely. Last month, figures from the Health Insurance Authority showed the percentage of the population with cover fell to 45.3 per cent.
Today, we ask about your own experiences. Have you given up your health insurance in recent years?
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