Dear Sir... Readers' Views (04/09/16)
Fog of uncertainty led to bill of âŹ13bn
Somewhere, it appears, during the conversation between Irish officials and Apple in 1991, Apple asked if they could pay the tax on their profits in Europe rather than the US.
It appears, that someone said, no problem leave that with us.
A fog was created, it appears, and 25 years later those same officials were âcaught outâ and sent a bill for âŹ13bn.
I wonder if the official ever got a bonus for his clever arrangement back in 1991?
Give US and Russia âŹ6.5bn each
Why not divide the âŹ13bn Apple tax windfall equally between America and Russia, thereby striking a dramatic blow for the brotherhood of Man and world peace.
That peace seems more fragile now than at any time since the last world war.
If a third world war were to break out we stand to lose the quantum of the windfall many times over.
There are reportedly 19,000 warheads ready to launch, targeted at the cities of the world, each of them many times more powerful than Hiroshima.
It was never ours anyway.
My wife has always drunk Barryâs Tea
Even when living abroad, more than 30 years, she always kept a supply of Barryâs Tea.
Our home became âfamousâ for serving Barryâs Irish Tea.
In her case it is always drunk from a china cup. Milk in cup before tea.
One particular political chief of mission, a US diplomat, would visit my office daily for his âBarryâs Irish teaâ.
Now retired, I understand he is still a daily drinker of Barryâs Tea.
Congratulations to the Barrys for providing excellent âIrishâ tea.
No argument for tax rate of 0.00.5%
The decision by the Government to appeal the European Commission ruling that a tax avoider pay back âŹ13bn to the taxpayer beggars belief.
The justification for the appeal is that the Government needs to defend Irelandâs reputation.
We have no credibility regarding our corporation tax regime.
The US government, the European Commission and major European countries rarely unite on anything, but on their dislike of our corporation tax regime, they stand united and we stand isolated.
If it is hard to argue in favour of a 12.5% corporate rate, imagine how hard it will be to argue in favour of a 0.005% effective rate.
If the Government had competent political advisers and ministers were capable of listening, they would have argued that, while disappointed with the European Commissionâs judgement, it represented a past Ireland.
An Ireland ruled by a different political culture, and cute-hoor sweetheart deals like this were no longer represented or tolerated in todayâs Ireland.
âPaddyâ makes a great little country
Arenât we the great little country?
Just as we were nominated some years ago to sort out the European banking system, the European Commission, no less, unable to sort out the effects of globalisation on corporate tax practices, now calls Paddy to the vanguard!
They want us to collect an international tax liability.
When collected it must be held in a separate account. Why separatet?
Because the commission has indicated there could be tax claims from other countries where Apple has operations.
We must hold the money, then agree tax liabilities with those other countries and dole the money out accordingly.
Consequently, it is very probable that little or none of this money would come to Ireland because Apple has already paid tax on its Irish operations.
To suggest otherwise is speculative and mischievous.
Address African gender inequality
A new report published by the United Nations Development Programme claims that gender inequality in sub-Saharan Africa is costing the region on average almost âŹ90bn a year.
It is a shocking figure, and all the more so because there are a range of low-cost, low-tech actions which would greatly diminish its impact.
The UN annual conference on African Development heard last weekend that legislation and social conventions were reinforcing the gender gap, obstructing economic growth in the poorest region on earth.
The report claimed that up to 540 million African women under the age of 60 had died prematurely in the last 20 years, and that African women in paid jobs were earning on average 70% less than their male counterparts.
African women do up to 70% of the work on small farms, but receive a small fraction of the available benefits.
Activities that target women-headed households in rural development projects, that provide training to women, improve access to credit, and seek to organise women into producer groups co-operatives all help to change this.
Please donât forget Aylan Kurdi
A year ago the lifeless body of Aylan Kurdi from Syria washed up on a Turkish beach.
The three-year-old drowned in the Mediterranean Sea as his family attempted to reach Europe.
Aylanâs death should have resulted in immediate action to protect refugees. Tragically, one year on, the opposite has happened.
So far this year, 268,602 people have entered Europe by sea, with 3,166 dead or missing, including children.
Behind these statistics are innocent people with broken hearts whose lives have been irrevocably changed.
The Irish Navy should be commended for making an heroic contribution to the search and rescue operation.
One year on, it is imperative that the EU, including Ireland, accelerates the pace of relocation for refugees and upholds basic humanitarian values that protect unaccompanied minors and reunite loved ones.
Study of âspiesâ is whitewash
The study of alleged âspiesâ killed by the Cork IRA. (âGetting to the heart of a countyâs killing fieldsâ Irish Examiner August 29, 2016) is both revisionist and biased by omission.
Revisionist because it seeks to dispel the dark cloud that rightly hangs over the Cork IRA since the revelation that Martin Corry ran a torture and murder chamber.
Biased by omission because it omits any mention of Corry or his victims.
Accordingly, I question the motives of this study which smacks more of whitewash than history.
Solution to Fota Island traffic
In the light of congestion on the Fota road in Co Cork may I suggest a link be made between Great Island and Little Island, running via the redundant NET site directly to Little Island?
This would shorten the distance between Cobh and Cork and avoid the daily problems with road access to Fota as vehicles enter and leave the estate.
The cost would be well compensated in time and fuel saved.
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Fine Gael again ignoring electorate
I am surprised Fine Gael has not adverted to the probability that its referendum on gay marriage cost it many votes in the general election.
Though it was a Labour Party initiative it was Fine Gael that departed from its traditional base of conservation rather than revolution.
Over 700,000 people voted âNoâ despite the massive media campaign to vote âYesâ.
Now Fine Gael is gearing up for a vote on the 8th Amendment, again ignoring the will of its traditional electorate.
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