I thank the Deputy for raising this issue.
There is no doubt that the international tax landscape has seen much change in recent years. There has been real progress in global actions aimed at addressing international concerns around the taxation of multinational companies. There have been significant changes in how companies are taxed internationally and how the taxation regimes of countries interact with each other. My colleague, the Minister for Finance, has ably steered a course for Ireland through this ongoing transition by providing transparency, stability and certainty to the greatest extent possible. These are the features of a tax code that businesses truly value.
The publication of Ireland’s corporation tax roadmap in September 2018, outlining the steps taken to date and the timelines and options for future changes, demonstrated this commitment to transparency and certainty. Ireland’s continued participation in OECD discussions on the future reforms of digital taxation is further evidence of our engagement in this reform process.
Ireland has continued to attract foreign direct investments. In fact, since the US tax reforms were enacted almost two years ago, IDA Ireland reports that 2018 saw 134 new name investments compared to 111 in 2017, an increase of over 20%.
These successes illustrate that our corporation tax regime, while important, is only one element of Ireland’s value proposition for FDI. Ireland has a number of key strengths that continue to make us a highly attractive destination for FDI. These include our highly-skilled workers, excellent education system and positive demographics. Our membership of the EU and eurozone and pro-enterprise policy environment are other significant selling points. These strengths help IDA Ireland to provide a strong case to investors considering investing in Ireland. They also help to explain our strong national performance in terms of FDI-driven investment and job creation, with over 230,000 people now employed here by IDA Ireland client firms.
