Monday

Good morning. Week two of Your Morning Tá starts with Budget talks, energy bills, 400 tech jobs and empty buildings being introduced to Revenue, which is rarely a social call. Abroad, oil is cooling, AI is running into export paperwork, and Irish names from Flutter to Aer Lingus are getting a reminder that global capital likes sentiment less than returns. Let’s get into it.

1. Budget Talks Start With Energy Bills. Ministers, unions and employers begin Budget talks with energy costs still doing damage to household finances. ESRI analysis says lower-income households are hit hardest because energy takes a bigger share of income, especially through heating oil, petrol and diesel. The next Budget fight is not whether pressure exists; it is whether support is targeted enough to survive the bill.

2. OpenText Adds 400 Irish Jobs. Canadian software company OpenText is investing €105m in Cork and Galway, with 400 jobs planned over three years across AI, sovereign cloud and cybersecurity. This is the kind of regional tech win Ireland wants: high-value roles outside Dublin, tied to regulated clients and enterprise data. The practical question is whether housing, offices and skills can keep pace with the announcement.

3. Derelict Tax Moves To Revenue. The Government plans a new Derelict Property Tax for 107 towns and cities, replacing a council-led levy that Simon Harris says local authorities have failed to enforce. Revenue collection changes the pressure point from local politics to tax compliance. Empty property is now being treated less like a planning annoyance and more like a carrying cost.

4. Irish Names Meet Global Capital Discipline. Flutter, the Paddy Power owner, plans to delist from London and trade solely in New York from August, while Aer Lingus is reportedly preparing route and senior-staff cuts as part of an urgent cost programme in a bid to win parent investment. Different sectors, same pressure: capital is going where returns look strongest, not where brands feel most familiar. Ireland gets the upside when investment stays anchored here; it loses leverage when capital has easier places to go.

5. Cash Access Becomes Bank Infrastructure. New cash-access rules designate AIB, Bank of Ireland and PTSB to protect local ATM and cash services. Digital payments may dominate, but cash is now being treated as basic infrastructure: dull, regulated and suddenly important when it disappears.

Oil fell after US and Iranian officials agreed a framework to halt fighting and reopen Hormuz, easing fuel and freight pressure while shipping details remain awkward. The UK is expected to announce restrictions on social media use for under-16s, pushing platform regulation closer to childhood policy than app-store management. Anthropic’s foreign-access shutdown has Brussels checking the practical fallout, because AI sovereignty is less theoretical when access to the newest models can disappear overnight. British forces intercepted a suspected Russian shadow-fleet tanker in the Channel, keeping sanctions enforcement and insurance risk near Europe’s front door. Swiss voters rejected a population cap, showing Europe wants growth, workers and infrastructure without always agreeing how to fit them.

Tech & AI

Tech & AI is AI-heavy this morning, but not in the usual “learn or get left behind” way. The sharper story is control: who can use the tools, who checks the output, and whether Ireland can build capability without losing trust.

PwC says Irish job ads requiring AI-related skills jumped 60% last year, which suggests AI is no longer being treated as a specialist tool kept inside technical teams. That matters for hiring, training and pay because firms are starting to ask for AI ability before many workplaces have properly defined what good use actually looks like.

That gap is showing up in trust. KPMG has pulled an October report on agentic AI after false or disputed claims appeared about organisations including UBS, the UK’s NHS, Swiss Federal Railways and Transport for London. It is not isolated either with EY recently retracting a report over false AI-generated footnotes, and KPMG Australia fined a partner for using AI to complete an internal AI training course. The lesson is not that firms should avoid AI. It is that review standards, client work and internal sign-off now need to catch up with the speed of the tools being used.

The control question is getting sharper too. The Trump administration reportedly issued an export-control directive blocking foreign access to Anthropic’s most powerful models on national security grounds. Rather than keep them live only in the US, Anthropic pulled the models altogether. For Ireland, with its data-centre base, software employers and regulated service firms, AI sovereignty is no longer just a Brussels phrase. It shapes what companies can buy, deploy and trust.

There is still harder technology being built. Horizon Quantum plans to build a second quantum computer in Dublin, while OpenText’s Cork and Galway investment adds another enterprise-tech layer outside Dublin. The harder test is whether Ireland can turn those wins into durable capability, not just another round of AI job ads.

The watch point is still August’s AI Office setup and whether Ireland can turn AI enthusiasm into procurement, governance and skills that survive contact with real clients.

In Tuesday’s Tá, the Sector Spotlight will be Legal & Regulatory.

Monday - The Weekend Round-Up…

Capital did not take the weekend off. Tirlán, the dairy co-op behind Avonmore and Kilmeaden, sold 12m Glanbia shares for about €257m, giving it more room for debt reduction and investment. Erisbeg, the Dublin private equity firm, is selling its stake in ORS, the Mullingar-founded built-environment consultancy, to Goldenpeak, keeping construction services in the deal flow. Cairn Homes also criticised the Government’s plan to rezone industrial land for 23,600 Dublin homes, arguing delivery is not as simple as changing the map. Abroad, SpaceX’s IPO debut kept markets busy with its post IPO valuation topping out at over $2 trillion. Money is moving, but land, listings and leverage still require most of the thought.

Canadian PM, Mark Carney, got the full Mayo welcome in Aughagower, with roots traced, hands shaken and the parish looking well for international inspection. Roy Keane, meanwhile, has appeared in the property pages as part of a group at making six-figure gains flipping luxury apartments at Lansdowne Place, which feels like the only form of possession he might approve of in Dublin 4. And Katie Taylor’s Croke Park sell-out gives the day its wholesome close: years of “will it happen?” finally answered by 80,000 people saying yes at once.

The Read – Business Plus – Experiential Architecture And The Bottom Line

A useful change of pace from policy, markets and AI control. Business Plus looks at experiential architecture, the idea that buildings and interiors should be measured not just by how they look, but by how they shape customer behaviour, staff experience and commercial return. That is especially relevant as offices, hospitality venues and retail spaces fight harder to justify their footprint. Design is not decoration when it changes how people work, spend, meet clients or choose where to come back to. The Link: Does experiential architecture add to hospitality’s bottom line?

Share Your Morning Tá with someone who'd find it useful…

See you tomorrow. ☘️ Your Morning Tá – Ireland's daily brief for professionals.