Economy

Ireland’s €134bn ‘phantom exports’ could disappear at the stroke of a pen

Contract manufacturing, which results in one country reaping the tax benefits on goods produced elsewhere, has ramped up in Ireland in recent years, leading experts and economists to once again question Ireland’s true economic position

‘Phantom exports’, officially termed contract manufacturing, have grown 20-fold in the last decade

Micheál Martin didn’t hold back in his assessment of the impact that multinational companies were having on Ireland’s economic performance when he addressed the Dáil.

It was “farcical”, “damaging to the country” and a matter of international “ridicule and disbelief”, Martin said, to mutters of approval from his Fianna Fáil colleagues, and chimes of agreement from Sinn Féin too.

If this scene appears confusing, it is because it took place while Martin was in opposition ...