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Demand for loans under the government’s € 2 billion Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme has waned since it was launched nearly five weeks ago, with companies only applying for € 100 million of new credit, it reports. The Sunday Times.
The newspaper cited figures from the Irish Federation of Banks and Payments as saying that some 1,500 companies have applied for loans of just over 100 million euros. The plan, a centerpiece of the government’s € 7.5 billion July stimulus plan, will be finalized later this year. Low uptake suggests that companies are reluctant to take on new debt in times of uncertainty.
Irish Medical Cannabis Firm Gets German Endorsement
The Sunday Times also reports that German cannabis company Synbiotic purchased a 25 percent stake in Irish medical cannabis research company Greenlight Medicines for an undisclosed sum.
Greenlight was founded in 2014 and develops herbal medicines with the goal of ultimately bringing treatments to market for conditions such as multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, arthritis, epilepsy, and various types of cancer. Synbiotic has the option of increasing its stake in the business in the future, the newspaper reports.
Hines plans up to 1,000 apartments in Liffey Valley
American real estate giant Hines is lobbying South Dublin County Council to pave the way for the construction of up to 1,000 apartments next to the Liffey Valley Shopping Center in West Dublin, reports the Sunday Business Post.
The shopping complex is owned by the German pension fund Bayerische Versorgungskammer, but is managed by Hines. The US company is seeking a new development plan, spanning 2022 to 2028, to allow any area zoned as a “major commercial center” to also allow, in principle, some residential development.
Lidl to hire an additional 400 employees in Ireland
German discount retailer Lidl, which employs more than 5,000 in its network of 163 stores in Ireland, plans to hire an additional 400 people as part of a € 250 million expansion plan over the next two years, the Sunday Independent reports.
The figure is in addition to the 400 jobs Lidl said it would create in March, as it dealt with a surge in demand for groceries at the start of Covid-19. The new roles will be created in an expanded regional distribution center in Mullingar, as well as in the new stores it plans to open.
SSE y Coillte plot € 80 M wind farm
The Sunday Independent also reports that UK-owned SSE Renewables and Coillte Renewable Energy are jointly exploring the possibility of building an 80 million euro wind power project in Gortyrahilly, Co Cork.
The project to build a wind farm with a capacity of up to 72 megawatts (MW) of power, enough to power up to 48,000 homes, follows the two companies that announced plans in May to develop a 60MW wind farm in Co Donegal.
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