Stop press...Conference plan

Conference plan
Former RUC chief constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan will be the keynote speaker at the Insurance Institute of Ireland's annual conference.

The conference will run from 19-20 September in County Wicklow.

Flanagan will speak on Building Trust in a Challenging Environment, as part of the conference theme Rebuilding Trust in the New World.

CII director general Sandy Scott will also speak at the conference on UK Initiatives in Restoring Consumer Confidence - Reaping Any Rewards?

EL costs 3,000 jobs
Three thousand jobs have been lost this year because of increasing employers' liability (EL) insurance.

And hundreds of small-to medium-sized companies are preparing for closure, according to the Small Firms Association (SFA) and Irish Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (ISME).

The association said 67 of its members have closed this year with the loss of 1,430 jobs, while ISME has lost 800 jobs from 200 member firms.

Insurance premiums for ISME companies have increased by 71% since January. The annual insurance bill of JF Engineering in Wexford rocketed by 1,600% in less than two years.

Both claim that if the insurance cost spiral is not halted, job losses could run into tens of thousands next year.

Minimum wage rise
Irish enterprise, trade and employment minister Mary Harney announced that the minimum wage would rise from €5.97 (£3.76) an hour to €6.35 (£4) an hour.

Harney, who will be speaking at the Insurance Institute of Ireland conference on future governance, said inspectors from her department would visit employers to ensure they complied with the increased rate.

The department will also run a publicity campaign on television and radio, and in newspapers from the beginning of next month. This would increase awareness of the change, she said.