Coveney: Nobody is using Ireland as a tax haven

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has insisted that Ireland is not a tax haven.

His comments follow the decision by pharmaceuticals manufacturer Pfizer to move its tax address to Ireland, in a merger with Dublin-based Allergan.

The move has been condemned by US presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

However Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney says there are a number of reasons why companies choose to base themselves in Ireland, besides tax.

"Nobody is using Ireland as a tax haven," he said.

"Ireland has a very competitive tax regime, but it's a transparent tax regime.

"And so, you know, companies do come to Ireland for lots of reasons - one of them is they pay a very competitive rate of tax here, the other is they get very good people here, a third is we speak English here, and Ireland has proven itself to be a very, very successful platform for international trade."