By Business & Finance 
Business & Finance brings you the day’s Irish business news in brief.
Additional €2.8m available for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner
The Government has allocated over €7.5m in funding for the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) in Budget 2017, an increase of €2.8m over the 2016 allocation and a fourfold increase over the figure for 2014.
Dara Murphy, Minister of State for European Affairs, Data Protection and the EU Single Digital Market, said: “This is a substantial and very welcome commitment of extra resources to the ODPC and clear evidence of the priority the Government attaches to data protection.
“The increased resources allocated to the ODPC in the last two budgets have allowed the Commissioner to recruit additional staff and plan ahead for the further scaling-up of the Office in anticipation of the new EU General Data Protection Regulation, which will come into effect in May 2018.”
Irish employees leaving jobs due to a lack of digital working practices
A new study by Sungard Availability Services finds that offering the right digital tools and training is a crucial aspect of attracting and retaining talent
The study found that having access to the latest digital tools is considered crucial by 82% of Irish workers, whilst over a third (36%) admitted they would be embarrassed to work in an organisation that did not provide them.
Over one-fifth (21%) of Irish employees have already left a place of employment because they did not have access to the latest digital tools they felt they needed in order to remain competitive within their industry. While this figure is not as high as in the US, where the number of disgruntled employees rises to 32%, it should still serve as a wakeup call to Irish businesses – especially in the light that a further 60% believe they can find greater career opportunities at more digitally-led organisations.
Michael O’Leary makes generous offer to build €200m terminal
Outspoken airline chief Michael O’Leary has offered to build a terminal at Dublin Airport worth in the region of €200m.
O’Leary has had issues with Dublin Airport’s manager and the DAA over recent times over the construction of Terminal 2.
O’Leary – as well as others – believe a third terminal is required as passenger numbers at Dublin Airport continue to grow and wants State-owned DAA to have zero involvement with the construction of a new terminal.
Enterprise Ireland fund announced for Cork
A €200,000 Enterprise Ireland Competitive Feasibility Fund for entrepreneurs and early stage start-up companies in the Cork region was announced today. The fund is aimed at stimulating businesses by providing up to €25,000 in funding to each successful applicant.
The fund is open to individuals, early-stage companies, or prospective businesses involved in manufacturing and internationally traded services in sectors such as internet, games, apps, cloud computing, enterprise software, life sciences, food, beverages, consumer products, industrial products, engineering, medical devices and e-health.
Samsung plans up in smoke as company recalls Galaxy Note 7
As igniting Galaxy Note 7 phones continue to catch fire, Samsung has admitted it has no idea why the problem emerged and is ending supply of the smartphone.
The company initially concluded the problem was with some of the phones’ batteries, blaming a “minor manufacturing flaw”, but this has proven unfounded.
The result: a €10bn disaster for the world’s biggest smartphone maker.
Government questioned whether budget breaches EU rules
Ireland’s Fiscal Advisory Council has stated that yesterday’s budget goes beyond the limit of prudent policy after the government announced a €1.3bn package of spending increases and tax cuts.
John McHale, chair of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council believes the budget indicates the government will reduce its structural deficit by 0.3% next year rather than the 0.6% improvement demanded by EU rules.
