Irish businesses are eager to spend this year, with investment plans outstripping other northern European countries. A new Azets Business Planning survey shows almost half of companies here (48 per cent) have ambitions for increasing investment in areas that will bring long-term benefits. Even with increasingly volatile trading conditions. Barry O’Halloran has the detail.

Price pressures in the hospitality sector continue to push up inflation which reached 1.4 per cent last month. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports on the latest consumer price index (CPI) which shows the rate rising 0.4 per cent for the month. Even still, the headline rate remained close to a three-year low and far from the days marked by rising energy costs.

DunPort Capital has completed the first close of its latest fund, a term denoting those that have become large enough to begin injecting capital into companies. This fund, writes Peter Flanagan, is aimed at small and medium-sized companies here and abroad. The Dublin-based firm’s €200 million Willow Corporate Credit is supported by a €100 million commitment from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) among other backers.