More and more of us are both chained to our phones but also desperate to rid ourselves of them, it seems. A new survey underlines how much we use them but also how much we loathe them. Ciara O’Brien has the story.

Easing construction inflation could boost Government plans to spend €275 billion on modernising the Republic’s ailing infrastructure, experts say. Barry O’Halloran reports on a new study from the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland.

Social media posts by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) portrayed landlords in an ‘almost comical or farcical’ light, a top landlords group complained. As Hugh Dooley reports, the Irish Property Owners Association, a representative body for landlords, wrote a letter of complaint to the independent state agency in relation to a series of social media videos it posted in September.

Europe must move from a fragmented single market to “one market” if it wants to compete with the US and China and achieve strategic autonomy, former Italian prime minister Enrico Letta has said. Speaking at an event in Dublin, Letta said the only effective response to Donald Trump’s coercive campaign against Europe was deeper integration. Eoin Burke-Kennedy was there.

RTE seems to be a never-ending world of drama, but where does it go from here? Redundancies continue; the Montrose campus needs millions spent on it to be upgraded. In his column, Hugh Linehan asks if it is in danger of becoming a zombie organisation.

If you are new to the world of investing, there will inevitably be an alphabet soup and jargon that you will have to navigate. One of those is allocation rates. Why are they so important? And how much should they cost you? In Your Money, Fiona Reddan takes readers through the jungle.

Also in Your Money, Dominic Coyle answers a reader question on what to do if a finance company won’t confirm a loan has been cleared.

Gold has been surging in recent months, hitting record highs and drawing interest far beyond its traditional investors. What is really going on? Paul Colgan unpacks the issue.

Cantillon focuses on food prices, with both the cost of a pancake spiking by more than a third in five years, while the likes of chicken and beef are also well up. What is going on?

The Government is pitching a new State savings scheme, but what exactly is it? Cliff Taylor outlines what we know so far.

State agency Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) is seeking talks with potential partners to build a hotel and sports or entertainment arena at Leopardstown Racecourse. Barry O’Halloran reports.

Tax changes that would encourage people to invest more of their savings would hopefully be made in the next budget, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris has said. As Jack Power reports from Brussels, the Fine Gael leader said he is keen to push reforms that would see the creation of new saving and investment options for people “who are trying to put away a few bob at the end of the week,” rather than the “uber wealthy”.

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