Waving away €500m a year

The Government will not adopt a financial transaction tax if the UK stays out, writes Ann Cahill

Why would a country that is broke, whose taxpayers are about to be hit by another €3bn worth of austerity in the coming budget, turn down the opportunity to collect about half a billion euro a year from the sale of shares and derivatives?

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said he would not stop his fellow eurozone colleagues from setting up such a ‘Robin Hood’ tax. In fact, he said, he would “wave them on” — but Ireland would not be party to it.