High-wire dependency on external forces for State's tax take

Once upon a time, before the European Union broadened our horizons, ambitions, and opportunities, it was said that if Britain sneezed we got a cold. That plausible, if amateur, theory will be tested again soon enough, but the Department of Finance announcement that 7% of the State’s tax take, about €4bn, comes from only 10 firms highlights an equally-worrying dependency on external forces.

That tech giant Apple, one of the country’s largest tax-payers, just issued its first profit warning in 12 years adds to the sense of high-wire drama around how we fund this Republic’s obligations.