Cut oil exploration tax, don't raise it

The government is to conduct a review of the tax terms for oil and gas exploration, the Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte announced during the week.

The government is to conduct a review of the tax terms for oil and gas exploration, the Minister for Energy Pat Rabbitte announced during the week. The move follows pressure from opposition TDs favouring an increase in the taxation rates on resource companies at an Oireachtas committee last week.

It is a call heard with increasing frequency in national debate in recent years as the state's fiscal position nose-dived. It is wrong-headed, economically ...