First-time buyers, many using the Government’s help-to-buy tax rebate scheme, accounted for nearly two-thirds of new mortgages drawn down in the last 12 months, new figures show. Eoin Burke-Kennedy has the details.

In our big read this week, Joe Brennan looks at the jockeying for position among financial planning brokers to tap into growing levels of Irish wealth and investor appetite for superior returns.

Bank of Ireland has upgraded its forecast for Irish economic growth this year to almost 11 per cent, which is expected to make Ireland the fastest-growing advanced economy in the world. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports.