US crackdown on tax avoiders ‘will not affect us adversely’

IRELAND should not be adversely affected by US President Barack Obama’s plans to tackle tax avoidance by US companies operating overseas, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said yesterday.

Speaking following their meeting at the White House, Mr Cowen also confirmed that Ireland will accept detainees from Guantanamo Bay “in a proportionate way”.

The two men had a “long discussion” about the economy and the forthcoming meeting of the G20, the world’s 20 largest economies, Mr Cowen said. They also talked about the recent violence in the North, the illegal Irish in the US, and the war in Afghanistan.