Taoiseach faces Brussels scrutiny over tax regime

Taoiseach Enda Kenny will find himself at the centre of a debate on tax avoidance by multinationals during today’s EU summit in Brussels.

The timing could not have been worse for Mr Kenny, with the US Congress decrying Ireland as a tax haven amid claims by Apple that a deal let them pay a minuscule amount of tax on global earnings.

Britain put the issue centre stage when it discovered Starbucks, Google, and others were using tax law loopholes to move their profits through Ireland and off to safe havens.