The underlying trend in sterling remains positive.
At close of business yesterday  (June 22nd) the Pound was worth €1.1755 Euro. There seems to be a correction to the over-selling of sterling in winter 2008/09. Also the rising price of oil has boosted the UK currency in relation to the currencies of major oil importers, notably the US, eurozone and Japan.

To enquire about getting good exchange rates on larger amounts of currencies – you should try one of our currency broker partners. They will always giveyou a betterexchange rate than your bank – and lower (or zero) transaction fees.

Check out Currency Solutions or   Currency UK for good deals on large currency transactions. Euros , Sterling or any other currency.

The Family Saver account from EBS which is a fixed rate regular savings account – has had it’s rate reduced from 5.1% to 4.5%.  It is still one of the better regular savings accounts in Ireland – but AIB and Anglo Irish still have better rates. The fact that the EBS rate is fixed for a year might just give it a slight advantage – although the falling interest rates seem to have come to a halt at the moment.

See all the best regular saver accounts in Ireland 

It looks like fixed rate mortgages are starting to rise again. EBS, AIB, NIB have all increased fixed rate mortgages in recent days. If you are thinking of fixing – there are not many lenders offering 10 year fixes in Ireland. Of those that do -  Haven mortgages offer the lowest (as at June 18th) with 4.49% (Max LTV 80%). It is likely this rate will rise soon.
Visit our page of the Lowest 10 Year Fixed Rate Mortgages

Get Ten Euro discount on your online shopping from Tesco Ireland with this voucher valid until 21st June on spends over €80  EXPIRED

Tesco Ireland Latest Offers

Milano Voucher: For one week only – June 14th to 20th 2010 -
With this voucher you can enjoy any pizza (pasta or salad) for €1 when you buy another main course at full price. You will need one voucher for each €1 pizza. The cheaper main course will be reduced to €1. T. Unfortunately the piccolo menu does not apply as a main course
New voucher here  http://www.milanooffers.ie/pizza1euro/

Eircom are still offering free phone line connections until August 31st 2009.
If you want a landline connection in Ireland – Eircom are the only company that can do the connection. Prices of connection vary – depending on the circumstances. The most expensive connection charge would be for a  property that has never had a landline connection previously – i.e a new house. The charge for  that is currently €121.93. The lowest charge would be €25.09
This  free offer is for residential customers only.

The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged today – still at a record low of 1.0 percent .

Most economists  had forecast that  the ECB would to leave rates on hold. Euro zone inflation is low and the economy is shrinking fast, although some data have shown signs of improvement. The markets will be keen to see whether Trichet gives any signals that the ECB plans to keep rates low for a lengthy period, or alternatively, whether they could be reduced further.

With the large audiences in Ireland for UK television – it is possible you may have seen the ads for IVA’s – Individual Voluntary Arrangements. These are for people in trouble with debts.
An IVA is a formal process available in the UK (including Northern Ireland) that is carried out via the county courts and  has to be arranged through an Insolvency Practitioner (IP). The IP  submits a proposal for an IVA to the court and to the creditors. The proposal must be approved by 75% (by value) of the  creditors. Providing it is approved, it is binding on them all. Typically payments are made under the terms of an IVA for 5 years , at the end of that period the person is  free of all the debts that the IVA covers. (Even if the full amount was not paid back!)
There is a fee charged by the Insolvency Practitioners for arranging and supervising the IVA.  (These fees are usually taken from the repayments and have been known to be as much as £8000 ) It must be a profitable business judging by the amount of companies offering to do it.  An IVA stays on the UK  credit file for 6 years.

In Ireland there is not an equivalent to the IVA -  If your debts get to the stage where you are issued with a summons – the initial summons will give you a number of options, which give you the chance to either admit you owe the money, or to defend the claim because you feel you do not owe all or some of the amount claimed.
The Irish legal system does not provide the chance for you to agree that you owe the money and to ask the court to consider an affordable offer of payments that suit your means. You have to try and do this informally outside of the court process.
Before your debts get to the stage of a court case  you should try and contact your creditors to let them know you are in difficulty. Work out a budget and how much you can afford to pay back a month.  Reputable lenders will normally be reasonable if they know the circumstances.
If you have come to an agreement with creditors to pay off a certain amount  each week or month – make sure you keep up the payments .  If a creditor does not accept a reasonable offer of repayment, seek advice from   Money Advice and Budgeting Service  (MABS) .  The MABS web site has plenty of information about debt problems and how to deal with them.