Funding of 53.9m found its way to 15 technology companies, more than double the amount of a year earlier, and up 13% on the previous quarter.

The biggest deal cited by Ion was a 20m investment in Digiweb by Moritz Holdings. David Frewer of Ion said the activity was driven by non-traditional technology investors, particularly those attracted to broadband providers.

IRELAND slipped further down the OECD league table of broadband penetration, dropping one place to 24th out of 30 countries surveyed. Less than 10% of Irish homes have broadband service. Denmark topped the list at more than 24%.

CHAMBERS IRELAND, the business pressure group, will this Tuesday propose changes in the way local government is funded.

The group is expected to unveil research revealing the patchwork nature of funding mechanisms among different localities, with inconsistent development levies, water levies and commercial rates.

STANDARD LIFE released a survey that revealed more people are prepared to work until they drop. Half of all adults believe they will still have to clock in past the traditional retirement age of 65. More than one in three expect to work up to age 69 while 11% are resigned to working into their 70s.

"This indicates that many people may feel forced to work longer for financial reasons, " said Nigel Dunne, director of sales and marketing at Standard Life, which commissioned the research.

More than half of the people with no pension claim that nobody has ever explained the incentives available for saving for retirement, according to the study.

"Clearly, many adults still do not understand the valuable pension tax breaks available, " Dunne added.

KERRY GROUP will spend $10m ( 8m) to buy and upgrade a facility in Missouri that was previously owned by Nestle. The Swiss company closed the plant last year.

The Irish food and ingredients group said the money will be spent on both the purchase and refit. Last year the company acquired St Louis-based Custom Industries, a specialty food ingredient maker, from Royal Cosun of the Netherlands. The buy included production facilities in Missouri and Toronto, Canada.

Kerry will benefit from tax incentives at its new facility.

It had looked at a number of potential locations around the US.

JAM MEDIA, the Dublin-based digital content firm, has signed a worldwide distribution deal with Hit Entertainment, owner of rights to children's characters such as Bob the Builder.

The deal is a coup for Jam Media, which has already sold its popular Picme series to broadcasters around the world.

The series uses software called Head-hunter that allows parents to email photos of their children to the broadcaster, which then crops them and places the child as an on-screen character in the series.

Picme has been running on RTE 2 since 2004 and is also aired by broadcasters in France, Germany, India and Wales. Jam Media has also been working on a series called Twisted Tales for BBC, which begins airing next year.

Earlier this year the company signed a deal thought to be worth in the region of $500,000 to sell Picme to Nickelodeon. The channel broadcasts the cartoon in Europea, Asia and Latin America.