Childcare fees and the budget, and Patrick O’Donovan’s row with RTÉ

Irish AI start-up Dubsof has raised $6.5 million (€5.8 million) from a group of European and US technology investors, including Berlin venture firm BlueYard Capital and a fund linked to Irish entrepreneur Dylan Collins. Killian Woods has the details. How much might you make via the State’s new investment account, details of which were announced in the budget? Fiona Reddan goes through some scenarios . In our Q&A, a reader wonders if their €1,000 monthly childcare bill will really fall to €550 following last week’s budget. Dominic Coyle offers a view . If you’d like to read more about the issues that affect your finances try signing up to On the Money , the weekly newsletter from our personal finance team, which will be issued every Friday to Irish Times subscribers. In making a mess of his department’s budget allocation to RTÉ, Patrick O’Donovan may have done us a favour, writes Hugh Linehan in his media column . On a related subject, Cantillon says we should spare a thought for TG4, which has found itself caught in the crossfire of the post-budget row over funding allocations for public broadcasting . Are we turning a corner on housing? Cantillon offers a view . Wealth taxes are back on the Irish agenda, with the Department of Finance funding a joint study with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), published on Tuesday, of different ways of taxing wealth. Dominic Coyle has the details of the report. A “reassessment” of the financial returns and efficiency gains expected from artificial intelligence could trigger a big correction in equity markets, the International Monetary Fund has warned. Eoin Burke-Kennedy reports. Operating profits at Irish hotel group iNua rose marginally last year as the company was being touted for sale, but interest payments linked to almost €70 million of debt dragged the company into the red, new accounts have shown. Killian Woods has the details. Infrastructure shortfalls are damaging businesses’ finances by driving up costs or hindering efforts to hire workers, most managers believe. Barry O’Halloran reports on the findings of a survey by the Institute of Directors.