ESRI: EU tax plans will hamper Irish growth

Ireland’s growing labour force should help the country sustain a real economic growth rate of 3% over the next decade, a leading economic think-tank has forecast.

However, in its latest medium-term outlook for the economy, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has warned that as well as Brexit threatening the Irish recovery, the European Commission’s new corporation tax proposals known as the common consolidated corporate tax base plan could shave 1.5% off underlying annual growth.

“The proposal — which could affect both revenue and the attractiveness of Ireland’s low corporation tax rate, as it would apply to a smaller proportion of a multinational company’s income — is estimated to result in Irish potential output being 1.5% lower than the baseline,” the ESRI said.