Coveney: Nobody is using Ireland as a tax haven
Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney has insisted that Ireland is not a tax haven.
His comments follow the decision by pharmaceuticals manufacturer Pfizer to move its tax address to Ireland, in a merger with Dublin-based Allergan.
The move has been condemned by US presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
However Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney says there are a number of reasons why companies choose to base themselves in Ireland, besides tax.
"Nobody is using Ireland as a tax haven," he said.
"Ireland has a very competitive tax regime, but it's a transparent tax regime.
"And so, you know, companies do come to Ireland for lots of reasons - one of them is they pay a very competitive rate of tax here, the other is they get very good people here, a third is we speak English here, and Ireland has proven itself to be a very, very successful platform for international trade."
