Transaction tax would be damaging, says Noonan

A financial transaction tax would damage Dublin to the advantage of London, according to Michael Noonan, the finance minister.

He said he had no problem with the proposed levy if it applied evenly across the EU, but not if it was res-tricted to the financial zone.

France is due to impose such a tax from August, president Nicolas Sarkozy has announced in a bid to try and regain ground in his April re-election bid.