End of tax mechanism lauded

The abolition of the "double Irish" is a highlight of the 10-year tenure of European Commission president José Manuel Barroso, who said he would put it in his legacy speech. He is due to leave office in two weeks’ time.

However, the plan to introduce patent boxes will be scrutinised to ensure it is not just another scheme to allow companies to evade tax unfairly, according to the EU’s taxation commissioner, Algirdas Semeta.

Mr Barroso said he did not expect that Ireland would change its 12.5% corporation tax rate to bring it into line with other EU countries.