more than the minimum wage. This positive trend was set in motion by Lidl and Aldi; these two supermarkets started offering their Irish staff a living wage rather than the minimum wage. Aldi staff will start earning €11.50 from February, while Lidl already increased their rate in November 2015.
Although a large percentage of revenues from petrol at the pumps go to Exchequer, softening oil prices could still benefit Irish drivers.
Motorists While this is not a direct income source, it will save you money in 2016, bringing welcome relief for most Irish citizens. According to economists, there is no significant expected recovery on the cards for oil prices. Falling oil prices are keeping a lid on inflation in 2016. Goldman Sachs recently forecasted that oil could well plummet to $20 a barrel due to oversupply.
Jobs action plan aims Nine out of 10 Hotels to create 50,000 jobs Increased Business this year in 2015 The plan aims to create 200,000 jobs by 2020, bringing employment to 2.18 million The government has launched its Action Plan for Jobs 2016, its fifth annual jobs plan, aimed at creating 50,000 jobs this year and 200,000 extra jobs by 2020. This would bring the total number of people at work to 2.18 million. The plan outlines 304 actions to be implemented this year by 16 government departments and more than 60 agencies. “Since the first action plan was launched more than 135,000 extra people are at work, hitting our target 21 months ahead of schedule,” Jobs Minister Richard Bruton said at the launch. “Now it is time to move on to the next phase, to lift our ambitions and to use this structure to deliver on higher targets.” Among the targets set by the plan are a doubling of the intellectual property outputs from business while all government transactions with business should be available online by 2017, a move which will affect 185,000 businesses across the country. Funding of €530 million will be used to support regional jobs growth, a single government web portal will be launched to highlight job opportunities to returning emigrants while there will be a new national skills strategy. The plan also sets a target of 13,000 new jobs in Enterprise Ireland-backed companies this year and 16,000 new jobs in IDA Ireland firms. Mentoring and management development programmes will be offered to 1,300 Irish firms this year while a national clustering initiative will be launched. “While clustering is an important strength of the Irish economy, particularly at regional level, research suggests that this can be significantly strengthened with specific initiatives,” the Department of Jobs said.
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A recent survey by the Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) revealed that approximately 90 per cent of hotels saw a boost to their business over the last 12 months, while most plan on upgrading during 2016. The Hotel Barometer survey showed that 92 per cent of hoteliers are planning to invest in refurbishment and product development over the next year. Over 60 per cent of respondents said they have hired new staff during 2015 while 57 per cent said they will hire more staff in 2016. Stephen McNally, President of the IHF, commented on how Ireland's record-breaking year in tourism has contributed to the increased business seen across the country. "2016 looks set to deliver further growth across our key markets such as Britain, North America and Europe - providing a further boost to hotels and guesthouses," he said. The IHF has said that the increase in tourism will create 40,000 new jobs in the industry by 2020.