Demise of Double-Irish ‘will pose a challenge’

Apple and other large multinational firms are unlikely to scale back their Irish operations due to the abolition of the so-called "Double-Irish" tax loophole but it will prove challenging to encourage similar companies to set up here in future.

That was the view yesterday of former Apple chief executive John Sculley who said Ireland’s talent base was strong enough to cope with the removal of what he referred to as the special “tax holiday”. The Government announced in last month’s budget, the tax advantage is to be abolished.

“It is going to be a challenge to get as much enthusiasm for international companies to locate in Ireland if there’s a tax advantage somewhere else... if every [company in Ireland] loses its advantage it will be a problem.