Economists say disposable household incomes are expected to fall in real terms this year for the first time since 2012 amid rampant inflation.

Inflation in the Irish economy is also expected to surge to 8.5 per cent or even higher in the coming months, a level not seen since the early 1980s. In its latest quarterly bulletin, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) warns that the cost-of-living squeeze will see incomes – in real terms – fall by an average of 2 per cent this year. 

Several European countries, including Ireland, lifted their Covid curbs too “brutally” and are now seeing a rise in cases likely due to the more transmissible BA2 variant, the World Health Organization has said.

SIPTU representatives have called on the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath, to respond positively to calls from its members working as Oireachtas support staff for improvements to their pay and conditions of employment. More on that here. 

Meanwhile, Aer Lingus has more than doubled its reliance on state-backed lending as it tries to recover from two years of disruption due to the pandemic. The airline has agreed a new three-year €200m debt facility with the Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), adding to the €150m funding line it set up in December 2020.

Further on the P&O ferries fiasco, an inspection is being carried out on a P&O ferry docked in Hull to ensure agency staff brought in to replace sacked workers can operate it safely. P&O Ferries fired 800 staff last week with immediate effect, saying it needed to secure the future of the business, and replaced them with non-union, agency workers.
 

And finally, a hotel in Kyiv is using donations coming through Airbnb to serve food to the city of Kyiv, as staff continue to work through air raid sirens and military attacks to deliver 15,000 meals a day. The hotel's owners, Artur Gabovich, said he was "very grateful" for the donations from people around the world and was surprised at the ingenious way people were offering support, simply by making bookings without an intention to show up.

That's all for this morning. Have a good one.