Alison O'Connor: Raising our corporate tax rate will be tough, but it’s the right thing to do

Having brazened it out for so long, Ireland may be about to conform to international standards and leave behind the appearance of shadiness about the way we do business

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and president Joe Biden have made it their mission to bring international corporate tax rates up to a minimum of 15%. File Picture: Carolyn Kaster/AP

We're relying on the St Augustine approach right now when it comes to our corporation tax rate — Lord make me pure, but not quite yet. This week, there’s been a subtle but significant shift in this long-running saga. We’ve moved from absolute brazenness to a muted acceptance of financial and political realities

We’ve been running out of road for a while now on our 12.5% rate. It’s going the way of ‘Leprechaun economics’ and the double Irish. We are being forced along the path to redemption by international OECD tax reforms. During his trip to the US, Taoiseach Micheál Martin acknowledged this by saying he could give no commitment to US companies either way on Ireland’s 12.5% rate.