The economy as ever remains a popular discussion point amongst people at present, be they “bar stool economists” or business people.  At a macro level events in China, Greece and Russia threaten to destabilise growth worldwide at present. In Ireland generally our economy continues to improve but many observe or indeed complain that regionally that’s not the case and that it's a two or three speed recovery with Dublin pressing ahead at pace and the rest of the country not witnessing or just starting to experience the long awaited green shoots. In my opinion there's little to contradict that view. Apart from exports and employment the obvious key drivers of a small open economy such as ours include infrastructural projects, and tourism to name just two. Yet locally we’ve seen the long awaited Cork-Limerick Motorway shelved, and the continued downgrading of Cork Airport, not allowed out of the shadows of the DAA. While decisions such as those continue to permeate the regions will in my opinion remain a decade behind Dublin in terms of benefiting from any recovery.

As a keen observer of business in rural Ireland I have concerns that the poor weather throughout the summer may stymie any prospects for whatever minor recovery the regions were experiencing for a while. This year, enthused by the great summers of 2013 and 2014 and with a certain degree of patriotism we chose to have our family holiday in West Cork. As always we had a very enjoyable time, despite the weather but I couldn't fail to notice that mid-week was extremely quiet even in peak season. There's no doubt in my mind that while the hotels in the towns and cities around the country are performing reasonably well, at a micro level the bars, restaurants, businesses and holiday parks around our coastal villages are suffering largely because of the poor weather. Rural Ireland needs a catalyst to put some momentum into the fledging recovery, something to generate the feel good factor and as ever sport may have a role to play here.

A lot of the time I get involved in cases at a late stage where the relationship between the borrower (debtor) and their creditors has broken down and unfortunately the creditors are in the process or have issued legal proceedings against the debtor.

Having unsustainable debt is a very difficult and stressful position to be in as it involves constant phone calls, letters and communication from the creditor as they try to get the case resolved. Thankfully with some hard work and straight talking we can get to a point that in most cases there is a solution that both parties can be agreeable to.

The single biggest flaw in the relationship between the debtor and their creditor is a lack of trust and poor communication on both sides.

As kids returned to school within the last 2 weeks the cost of education is at the fore front of all our minds.

We want to give our children the best possible start in life and a good education is top priority and this can be a lot more expensive than you realise.

Barnardos school cost survey 2014 stated that the cost of sending an 8 year old back to school can cost between 360-450 euros and this can rise to as much as 750-1000 euros per child when entering secondary school.

These costs will substantially increase for college and if like most parents you want your child to go to college paying for it is probably one of your biggest financial concerns.

The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 states that the holiday and public holiday provisions in the Act apply to all employees (whether full-time, part-time, fixed-term or casual) engaged under a contract of employment.  There is no qualifying period for holidays and all employees, regardless of status, service or age, begin to accrue holiday entitlements from the day they commence employment.  When calculating holiday entitlements, all time worked qualifies for holiday entitlement including overtime hours worked.

An employee’s statutory annual leave entitlement should be calculated by one of the following methods, depending on the number of hours worked:-

• 4 working weeks in a leave year in which the employee works at least 1,365 hours (unless it is a leave year in which he, or she, changes employment)
• 1/3^rd of a working week for each month in a leave year in which the employee works at least 117 hours
• 8% of the hours worked by an employee in a leave year (but subject to a maximum of 4 working weeks)

References to a ‘working week’ above, refer to the number of days that the employee concerned usually works in a week.

If more than one of these provisions apply to an employee and the results are not the same, the employee is entitled to whichever result is the more advantageous for him.

An employee who works for 8 or more months in a leave year is entitled to 2 unbroken week’s annual leave.

We recently issued our bimonthly taxation update which put a spotlight on the new 'Living City Initiative' tax relief, tax clearance certificates going on-line, employees' subsistence expenses allowances and information on the decrease of the UK corporate tax rate.

To view a copy of this update click here.

If you have any taxation queries don't hesitate to contact us by email at info@quintas.ie or call 021 4641400.

CIT are running an Innovation Support Day on Tuesday 6th October 2015 from 11am to 4pm.  The aim of the event is to bring attendees through the vast array of innovation support mechanisms that are available throughout the CIT campus, covering topics such as:

•    Development of your idea

•    Accessing finance

•    Working with the R & D centres such as CAPPA and Nimbus

•    Trialling your products 

•    Commercialisation and market analysis

The event if FREE for Early Bird Registration 

There is also a fantastic opportunity to win €20,000 worth of innovation support prizes to help develop your idea.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to meet with Enterprise Ireland representatives to discuss H2020 - you can contact CIT directly if you wish to avail of this 1:1 meeting.

Links for registration, the event itself and the competition website are located below.

Eventbrite registration:     

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/innovation-support-event-tickets-17981413893?ref=ebtn

Event Website:                 

http://nimbus.cit.ie/innovation/

Competition website:       

http://nimbus.cit.ie/20k/

Valerie Leahy featured in CPA National Advertising Campaign

Our very own Valerie Leahy features in the CPAs new advertising campaign.  You'll probably spot a few posters in colleges and buses around the city and if you have a trip to Dublin planned, keep an eye out on the Luas.

Debt Resolution Open Evenings

The Quintas PIP, Mark Ryan, is hosting FREE Information Evenings on debt resolution, insolvency and bankruptcy on Wednesday evenings from 5pm to 7pm.  These open evenings offer you the opportunity to meet with Mark Ryan for a 15 minute consultation whereby he can advise you on how you can best overcome your debt worries.  If you would like to avail of this offer contact Sarah O'Neill on 021 4641400 or email soneill@quintas.ie

New Arrival

Congrats to Paul O'Connell and his wife Ann Marie on the birth of their daughter Sarah.

Special Olympics Success

Big congrats to the Special Olympics Team Ireland who won a total of 82 medals at this years games, a fantastic achievement.  Picture below is Mark Ryan the Quintas PIP who attended a reception with some of the competitors earlier this summer.

CBC Immersion Project in Zambia

Pictured below is the group of students from CBC who worked on the Immersion Project in Zambia this summer. The trip was hugely successful and Quintas were only too delighted to help with the fundraising efforts.