Simon Coveney, Minister for Agriculture has insisted that Ireland is not a tax haven for foreign companies.
His comments come following criticism of Pfizer’s decision to relocate its tax address to Ireland. The pharmaceuticals manufacturer say that this is a move to merge with Dublin-based Allergan.
The move has been condemned internationally, with US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton voicing their opposition to the move. Coveney insists that besides tax, there are a number of reasons why companies choose to base themselves in Ireland.
“Ireland has a very competitive tax regime, but it’s a transparent tax regime.” Coveney said.
“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.”