Pacnet seeks to repay clients, Bord na Mona’s US plans and five-star profits at Dublin’s Fitzwilliam hotel

Irish Canadian payments processor Pacnet says it is working to ensure clients can access their cash following the flisting of sanctions against it by US authorities. Pacnet says that designating it as a crime organisation was wrong in the first place and effectively forced it out of business. Its general counsel, Paul Davis, confirmed that it is taking all possible steps to ensure clients' cash is returned to them.

State energy company Bord na Móna will shortly seek Government approval for its plan to spend €60 million building a wood pellet factory in the US. The proposed plant in Georgia would turn willow trees into pellets to be exported to the Republic as fuel for electricity generators.

Profits at the hospitality group which owns Dublin's five-star Fitzwilliam Hotel rose 18 per cent to more than €4 million last year. Barry O'Halloran also reports on figures for Fota Wildlife Park, which recorded a seven percent rise in visitor numbers in 2016, to 465,281.

Lender First Auto has agreed a €30 million deal with the Irish distributor of French car brand Citroen. Established by former Irish Permanent chief executive Billy Kane, First Auto is backed by, amongst others, the State-owned Irish Strategic Investment Fund and private equity player Pimco.

First Auto agrees €30m deal with Citroën distributor in Ireland

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Bank of Ireland staff pay details mistakenly circulated internally

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Fitch upgrades Bank of Ireland and AIB as profits improve

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Irish shoppers to spend €2,500 on average this Christmas, survey finds

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In the aviation world, IAG boss Willie Walsh says there is no shortage of airline pilots, despite the recent flight cancellations at rival Ryanair. His comments came as the latest figures reveal IAG airline Aer Lingus had nearly €1 billion in cash last year. Meanwhile Norwegian Air International is still considering whether it will begin flying from Cork to New York.

In his column this week Chris Johns writes that in Britain, ignorance of history and zero appetite for the details of European law have combined to produce the current chaos. On the issue of a potential hard border, he fears for the worst.

Finally, Pilita Clark meets with the boss of a firm that monitors employees for client firms, and explains how tracking staff can boost revenue - and why we should be worried.