Energy companies must manage huge uncertainties. These include making provisions for decommissioning costs on major assets such as power stations and oil and gas rigs that may operate for 20, 30 or perhaps even 50 years into the future. Actual decommissioning costs are subject to a range of different variables, including the cost of […]
“Peter will not marry Paul in Northern Ireland.” This tweet from the Democratic Unionist Party’s former health minister Jim Wells reflects the social conservatism of the party that will support Theresa May in government. The DUP used its veto in the Stormont Assembly to block gay marriage. According to former Scottish communities minister Marco Biagi,
Drones may still sound a little ‘science fiction’, but their use is rapidly becoming mainstream. The practical applications of drones are multiplying – from energy generation (see box) to protecting birds of prey. While much of the media reporting of drone technology has focused on how Amazon and other retailers may use drones to deliver
Data analytics’ role in reforming the public sector will be at least as large as in the private sector, where it promises to revolutionise management and marketing. The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee quoted consultants as saying the NHS alone could achieve annual efficiency savings of between £16bn and £66bn – as well
Eurosceptism has long been a big part of the UK’s political scene. Not so in Ireland, which has adopted a more genuinely European outlook. Yet political pundits are saying the unthinkable – and Irexit is being discussed. The Financial Times’ influential columnist Wolfgang Münchau put it particularly clearly at the end of last year.
Innovation sits at the heart of how the public sector is redefining itself, focusing as it must on doing more for less. FinTech developments are central to this reinvention. In a report written for government and published last year, chief scientist Sir Mark Walport suggested four new technologies that the public sector should take on
Private equity is not universally popular in Ireland, given its role in buying portfolios of distressed debt and turning these into vast profits. The sector is particularly controversial in Northern Ireland, after Cerberus bought the Project Eagle portfolio of northern debt from Nama at a large discount. But this is just one manifestation of private
“Sometimes it is underestimated how many females are in important positions in Northern Ireland,” explains Angela McGowan, whose place at the province’s top table was secured when she took over as the CBI’s director for Northern Ireland in October last year. McGowan makes her case well, reciting a list of women holding leadership roles
It’s been a busy start of the year for Ireland’s largest energy exploration business Tullow Oil. In the space of a few days in January and February, the company announced its CFO was taking sick leave, its founding CEO was stepping down – oh, and that it had made a full year loss of $600m.
It should be no surprise that strengthening financial management is a priority for the NHS. Trusts in England were in deficit by £1.8bn in 2015/16 and the NHS has the very ambitious target of achieving £22bn in efficiency improvements in England by 2020. Alongside stretched funds, NHS England is dealing with the continued implications
Public bodies have often led the private sector when it comes to progressive employment practices. But it is different with gender pay reporting – the government demanded that others got their houses in order first. Gender pay gap reporting was introduced for large private and voluntary sector organisations in Great Britain in October last year.
Irish credit unions are generally in a strong financial position. According to the Irish League of Credit Unions’ annual report, published in December, member credit unions have €880m in capital above the 10% minimum capital required, while reserves across the sector rose by 8.4% in the last reporting year, to €2.3bn. However, there are