The Irish Infrastructure Fund (IIF) has secured the concession contract to operate and maintain the Convention Centre Dublin (CCD) in a deal which also includes a licence to build and operate a 330-bed hotel on a site nearby. Managed by Irish Life Investment Managers and AMP Capital, the IIF was launched in 2012 with a €250m commitment from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. Since being announced as the preferred bidder for the CCD last February, the fund has increased investor commitments to over €400m with 14 institutional investors participating in the funding round to complete this transaction – which also includes a long-term lease of the car park underneath the…

Discount supermarket brand Aldi has opened its seventh store in Co Kerry, in Kenmare, which will create 20 new jobs. To mark the opening Aldi provided breakfast samples and family entertainment and Radio Kerry broadcasted live from the site. Five shoppers won €100 Aldi vouchers each. This brings the total number of Aldi stores in Ireland to 116, with the first having opened in 1999. Since 2008 Aldi has almost doubled the number of Irish suppliers it works with and more than 50pc of Aldi’s supplier spend is now with Irish suppliers, producers and manufacturers. Sorcha Corcoran

Bad debt judgments awarded by courts in first half of 2015 up 32pc to €220m Increase in Value of Judgments for Bad Debts The total value of judgments awarded by the courts in the first half of 2015 for bad debts amounted to just over €220m, up 32pc on the same period last year, according to figures released today by Vision-net.ie. The average value of judgments during the period was €95,333, up 27pc on the same period in 2014 (€74,818). Rise in Consumer Judgments Some 1,692 judgments were awarded against consumers in the first half of the year, up 6pc on the same period in 2014. Consumer judgments during the…

Shared services centres (SSCs) are on a clear expansion path in Ireland and are set to create more jobs, according to a survey that was carried out jointly by PwC and the ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). However, there is room for improvement in how they operate and also in their use of technology. The findings highlighted that SSCs are becoming more popular in Ireland as multiple delivery centres, particularly for multinational companies looking to centralise not only cross-border functions such as accounting and HR, but also areas such as treasury, payroll, supply chain management, procurement and tax. “With a highly talented workforce and competitive tax regime, the…

Aer Lingus is to operate a new Cork to Düsseldorf service, which will operate twice weekly on Wednesday and Sunday from May 2016. Düsseldorf is located in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr region, Germany’s largest metropolitan area, with a population of about 11 million people. The news has been welcomed by Cork Airport, Tourism Ireland and Cork Chamber of Commerce. “We expect there to be strong demand for this route from both inbound and outbound passengers,” said Cork Airport managing director Niall MacCarthy. “We already have 50 routes from Cork Airport, making us the largest airport outside of Dublin, and this new service to Düsseldorf is further recognition of our…