End to Voucher Expiry Dates Proposed in New Consumer Legislation
End to voucher expiry dates and online contract rights proposed in new consumer legislation A ban on expiry dates in gift vouchers and new rights in services and online contracts are among the proposals of new consumer rights legislation being published today for a consultation. According to Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton , the legislation represents the most far-reaching reform of consumer law in decades. It is designed to make consumer rights clear to consumers and businesses by replacing the overlapping combination of primary, secondary and European legislation in place currently. It will also give consumers a range of new rights. As well banning expiry dates for gift cards…
Read MoreClosing Date for Entrepreneur of the Year Entries
Closing date for Entrepreneur of the Year entries coming upFrank O’Keeffe, Partner in Charge of the EoY Programme pictured with sponsors Liam Kavanagh, Irish Times, Terri O’Donnell, Invest NI and Tom Hayes, Enterprise Ireland The closing date for nominations for the 2013 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year is this coming Sunday, 31 March. Frank O’Keeffe, Ernst & Young’s partner-in-charge of the programme, said that this year it wanted entrepreneurs from across the island of Ireland to “truly test their horizons”. “Even in these most challenging times, entrepreneurs are constantly looking for opportunities to grow through innovation and technology, and it is their unparalleled vision and capacity to adapt to the…
Read MoreTowards a ‘Green IFSC’
Towards a ‘Green IFSC’ The so-called ‘Green IFSC’ has the potential to put Ireland very firmly on the map as a support centre for the global renewables and clean tech industries, KPMG’s Mike Hayes tells Grainne Rothery. The belief that Ireland is very well placed to become both a centre of excellence and a key support for the global renewable industry is the driving force behind an initiative to establish what is loosely being called the ‘Green IFSC’ in Ireland. At the launch of the initiative in January of 2011, then Taoiseach Brian Cowen said its establishment would position Ireland as a leading financial services centre for the management of…
Read MoreIrish partners awarded €3.3m in EU funding for smart grid trials
Irish partners awarded €3.3m in EU funding for smart grid trialsPictured: Pat O’Doherty, chief executive of ESB; Jerry O’Sullivan, managing director of ESB Networks; and Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte ESB Networks, Intune Networks and TSSG (WIT) have secured €3.3m in EU funding to explore how future internet technologies can be applied to advance smart energy systems. The funding was awarded under the FINESCE smart energy project following a competitive process with other EU states. ESB Networks said the Irish partners were selected on the basis of the potential savings their projects could deliver to consumers across the European Union. The funding for two Irish field trials was…
Read MoreUS Medical Giant ResMed Buys BiancaMed in All-Cash Deal
US medical giant ResMed buys UCD spin-out in all-cash deal San Diego-headquartered medical device manufacturer ResMed has acquired UCD spin-out BiancaMed in an all-cash deal. Original investors including DFJ ePlanet Capital and Enterprise Ireland are believed to receive a significant premium on their €11m investment in the company. BiancaMed is one of an emerging generation of young Irish medical device companies who are developing breakthrough technologies. It has developed a contactless, accurate device to measure sleep and breathing and combat deaths arising from the sleep disorder sleep apnea. Dr Philip de Chazal, Dr Conor Hanley and Prof Conor Heneghan founded the company in 2003 to commercialise research that emerged from the UCD…
Read MoreCancer researcher receives NovaUCD 2011 Innovation Award for commercialising intellectual property
Cancer researcher Prof William Gallagher has today been presented with the NovaUCD 2011 Innovation Award in recognition of his ongoing successes in the commercialisation of intellectual property coming out of UCD research programmes. Gallagher, who is a research in UCD’s School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, received the award today from UCD president Dr Hugh Brady. A major focus of his research at UCD has been on the identification and validation of candidate biomarkers – which indicate the therapeutic response of patients to treatments – of breast cancer and melanoma and the conversion of his research results into clinically relevant assays or tests which can help to improve the quality-of-life…
Read MoreAramark wins €1.6m facilities management contract with Enterprise Ireland
Aramark wins €400k facilities management contract with Enterprise IrelandAidan Bell, MD of Aramark Workplace Solutions Aramark Ireland has won a four-year contract worth over €400,000 a year to provide facilities management services to Enterprise Ireland. Its workplace solutions division will provide reception, security, cleaning and general maintenance services across the Enterprise Ireland site in East Point Business Park on Dublin’s northside. This is the first time that Enterprise Ireland has engaged with a facilities management provider to combine such outsourced services. The new deal will be in addition to Aramark’s existing contracts with other government agencies including Fáilte Ireland, An Bord Pleanála, Office of Public Works, European Commission and the Broadcasting Authority…
Read MoreAmgen to buy Pfizer plant – 280 jobs saved
In some very good news for the Irish jobs sector, pharma company Amgen has today announced it is to buy Pfizer’s manufacturing facility at Dun Laoghaire. The 37,000-sq-m Pfizer aseptic operations facility employs 280 people and the buyer intends to retain employees and expand the site’s capabilities over time. About 240 employees will transfer to Amgen while another 40 will remain employed by Pfizer as part of the deal. “As we expand internationally, the Dublin site will help us deliver a growing supply of Amgen medicines for patients worldwide,” said Madhu Balachandran, senior vice president, Amgen Manufacturing . “We are impressed with the technical expertise and commitment to excellence demonstrated by the…
Read MoreTaxback.com Founder Terry Clune Named Entrepreneur of the Year
Terry Clune, who established global income tax service firm Taxback.com in 1996, was named Ernst &Young; Entrepreneur of the Year at Dublin’s City West Hotel last night. Taxback.com provides international tax, finance, and travel consultancy services to clients in over 100 countries. The company has 600 staff in 17 countries processing 130,000 tax refunds, 30,000 visas, and 60,000 international money transfers annually. Taxback.com recently opened an office in Haiti, supported by Denis O’Brien’s company Digicel. From its office in the Digicel building in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, the company’s 24 new staff will provide tax documentation assistance to customers, mainly in North America. Also featuring in last night’s awards was the Clonmel-based engineering…
Read MoreAramark Ireland creates 17 new jobs in the north west
Facilities management, food and property provider Aramark Ireland has created 17 new jobs following the integration of Sligo-based Lotus Facilities Management (FM), which was acquired by Aramark in 2013. Since the acquisition, Aramark has doubled the Lotus FM workforce to 34 people, most of whom are based in the north west.
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