Google nears deal, services rebound, and the art of greenwashing

Business Today: the best news, analysis and comment from The Irish Times business desk

Global corporations seem to be getting their environmental act together better than governments.
Global corporations seem to be getting their environmental act together better than governments.

Google is closing in on the purchase of the Treasury Building on Dublin's Grand Canal Street for about €120 million. Ronald Quinlan has the details.

Talking of the tech giant, its co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, are stepping down as executives of its parent company, Alphabet.

The Irish services sector posted a strong rebound in November having almost fallen into contraction the previous month, according to a survey commissioned by AIB. Peter Hamilton reports.

The Workplace Relations Commission will on Wednesday conduct a hearing on a dispute between US package delivery company UPS and some of its workers in the Republic.

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The consensus within the commercial property sector is that a new benchmark of around €5 billion will be set this years. Ronald Quinlan rounds up the 10 mega deals of 2019.

Our panel of experts review the office, invesment and suburban office markkets; theprivate rented sector; the hotel, retail and industrial sectors and development land. We also hear that rents are close to their peak in the current cycle and that demographics, demand and the weight of capital support investment.

Both global corporations and governments are guilty of greenwashing, but the cproporates seem finally to be getting their act together, writes Eoin Burke-Kennedy.

Economist and journalist Colm McCarthy has forecasted that air fares will rise by 30 per cent per centshould the European Commission increase their carbon tax on jet kerosene. He joins Ciarán Hancock and business reporter Barry O'Halloran on the Inside Business podcast to discuss how this increase, along with the removal of the VAT exemption, will send the price of air travel soaring.

Our Diary of the Week has all the business events coming up today and for the week ahead.

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Conn Ó Midheach

Conn Ó Midheach

Conn O Midheach is Assistant Business Editor - Digital of The Irish Times