Ireland warned over corporate tax rate change

IRELAND must resist any attempt by the EU to change its 12.5% corporation tax rate, the authors of a major report on the state of the multinational sector in Ireland have said.

In the event of a bailout, which they also said must be resisted, Dr Tom McCarthy, head of the IMI, and Ronnie O’Toole, chief economist at National Irish Bank, said any shift, however small, would send the wrong signals to the key multinational sector in Ireland.

Mr O’Toole said the main thing markets are worried about is “future growth prospects” given the scale of the cutbacks facing us.