Changes to our taxation regime are inevitable

Times have to be bad when the competition for foreign direct investment has to resort to threatening minnows like Ireland and even Holland and Luxembourg to try and boost their own tax takes.

Granted, the implications for Ireland of having a 1,000 or so foreign direct investment (FDI) companies on these shores is absolutely vital, not only to the future growth of our economy but even to our economic survival. However, given the economic scale of those countries moaning about Ireland’s taxation relationship with foreign direct investment companies, Ireland is surely little more than a stalking horse for far bigger fry.

We are in a club that is known as the European Union and we need to abide by the taxation rules of this club as long as we are members. Government has told us that we have abided by the rules and we have nothing to fear. I trust, as most of us do, that is the case. If it is not we have a problem.