‘The law will be changed if multinationals have a problem’

Occupying a single floor of a three-storey building in a suburban Dublin office park, Western Union’s offices are notably modest for the international headquarters of the world’s largest money transfer firm.

The set-up is typical of swathes of US companies using Ireland to cut their tax bill. An analysis of Irish and US filings shows that more than 40% of the S&P 500 have registered subsidiaries in the country.

That nexus, which has created over 100,000 jobs for Ireland, was laid bare when the US senate revealed that Apple had paid little or no tax on billions of dollars in profits channelled through the country.