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22 March 2023: The government has approved a new windfall tax on energy companies, which could make earnings of up to €600m.

The bill will be enacted before the summer, with the first funds collected by this September. The tax is split into two parts: a cap on market revenue, and a temporary contribution, based on profits in the fossil fuel sector.

Minister for the environment, Eamon Ryan, said proceeds from the cap on revenue will be used to lower electricity prices for customers, while money from the temporary contribution will be used in variety of others ways; to be decided during this year’s budget.

15 March 2023: EBS is increasing interest rates on fixed rate residential mortgages by an average of 0.59%.

The new rates will start from March 15th, but all customers who draw down their new mortgage by 14th April can avail of the previous fixed rates.

Rates will also increase on buy-to-let mortgages, but there will be no change to the lender’s variable mortgages.

The lender also announced increased interest rates on savings. From 15 March 2023 the new rates will be:

• EBS Family Savings Account will offer a 1% return (up from 0.10%) up to €1,000 per month for 12 months.
• EBS Children’s/ Teen’s Savings Account will offer a 1% return (up from 0.10%) up to €5,000 and 0.10% for amounts greater than €5,000.
• EBS Instant Access Account will offer a 0.10% return (up from 0%).

13 March 2023: Finance Ireland have announced hikes to their fixed rate mortgage products. 5 year fixed rates will increase by 0.50%, while 3 year fixed rates will rise by 0.75%.

The changes will take place from this Thursday, March 16th. If customers receive a mortgage offer before then, they have until April 17th to avail of the current rates.

10 March 2023: EBS has launched a new cashback deal for customers who switch to a Green 4 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage.

The offer is available from 10 March 2023 to 31 December 2024, and for customers who move their existing mortgage from another lender to EBS. The property must be bought in Ireland, and customers eligible for the Green 4 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage - e.g. having a BER rating of B3 or higher. Read the full terms and conditions here.

09 February 2023: Irish households will enjoy a rare credit of €12.74 per month, due to a negative PSO Levy. The refund will be paid from March, and credited to customer’s bills by suppliers.

High gas prices means more revenue for renewable energy. The PSO levy, which is charged to customers to offset the cost of generating renewable energy, is now negative due to the high price wholesale energy.

Prepayment customers will receive the payment by a reduction in their daily standing charge.

9 February 2023: Sky Ireland is increasing prices on its broadband and TV services from April. The 5.1% price rise across all products will mean customers could be paying up to €7.00 more per month for TV bundles, with the average customer hit by a rise of around €50 per year.

Sky has started contacting customers to notify them of the increase, the first since 2021. Vodafone, eir and Three are all pushing up prices in April across broadband, TV and mobile services.

2 February 2023: Following the ECB announcement of a further 0.5% rate rise, AIB announced it would be following suit with an average 0.5% increase across all fixed and tracker mortgages, and a 0.35% rise to variable rate mortgages.

AIB are the first lender to raise interest rates for borrowers on variable rate mortgages, which could mean a typical homeowner paying 3.5% interest on their mortgage. Changes for variable rate mortgage holders kick in on 14 March, but new fixed and tracker mortgage rates are effective from 3 February.

Haven are applying the same changes to their mortgage products.

2 February 2023: The new flagship Samsung Galaxy S series launched on 1st February and is now available for pre-order. The new S23, S23 Plus and S23 Ultra will start shipping on 17 February.

You can check out the latest model specifications, compare the S22 and discover whether it’s worth upgrading on our Samsung deals page.