Top consultants criticise Cowen

A TOP consultancy group has condemned Finance Minister Brian Cowen for his failure to deliver any initiatives to relaunch the Irish Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

December 2005 marked the end of the first phase of the IFSC and consultants Deloitte & Touche warned attracting new investment to the centre will become increasingly difficult as other centres challenge for inward investment.

To survive the competitive environment of the financial services world we must always be “first in class” in every aspect of our regime, they said. Corporation tax of 12.5% was very appealing but other ways have to be found to keep the IFSC attractive to investors.