Editorial: Our corporate tax rate is not the main issue for foreign investers

Foreign direct investment is here for the long term regardless of our tax rates

Micheál Martin’s comment, made in the context of a push for corporate tax reform and a minimum rate of “at least 15 per cent” globally, was also revealing. Picture: Getty

During his visit to the United States last week, the Taoiseach remarked that he could not guarantee to US companies that Ireland’s corporate tax rate would remain at 12.5 per cent. In part, this was a statement of the obvious. No political leader can, or should, guarantee that a tax rate will remain unchanged in perpetuity.

Tax rates rise and fall constantly. In the 1950s, the US corporate tax rate was over 50 per cent. ...