Bruton: Corporation tax rate will have to be defended
Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton today said Ireland's 12.5% rate of corporation tax will have to be defended "rigorously and trenchantly" with our European partners.
Speaking at his first public engagement as a member of Cabinet - a $12m (€8.6m) investment announcement in Kerry firm Altobridge - Minister Bruton said it would be short-sighted of Europe to expect an export-led recovery here, and at the same time force us into higher corporation tax rates.
His comments came as Finance Minister Michael Noonan holds further talks in Brussels today on the cost of our banking bailout.
"That they would seek to remove one of the most important pillars of our policy… I think is misguided," Minister Bruton said.
"Ireland will have to defend this absolutely rigorously."
The Enterprise Minister also insisted that the threat of sovereign default also remained on the table in the negotiations with our European patterns to reduce the payment terms of Ireland's bailout.
Meanwhile Junior Minister for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton said Ireland is in a good negotiating position for these talks, as it is not in the interest of other European countries for Ireland to be unable to repay the bailout loan.
Minister Creighton also said she cannot see why French President Nicolas Sarkozy is so opposed to Ireland's low corporation tax rate, when his country's effective rate is lower.
"It has been well documented in this country that actually the (effective) rate of French corporation tax is lower than here," she said.
"But there seems to be no self-examination or no acknowledgement of that on the part of President Sarkozy.
"I think his approach to these negotiations is somewhat different to predecessors.
"Traditionally there was a positive engagement. He seems to be a little more… robust."
