Tomás Ó Flatharta

Industrial Development Authority (IDA) boss reveals Sinn Féin plans to woo US firms on corporate tax

A daft idea promoted by many political commentators is that if a political party with a left-wing voting base moves to the “centre” (which in this context is a weasel word for “right”) it can win control of a government more easily, and “reassure” the owners of capitalist states at home and abroad. Once the leadership of a political party absorbs this idea, all sorts of radical policies are thrown into the litter bin.

Unfortunately the leadership of the Sinn Féin party is falling into this trap – the left message is : you are in a hole, stop digging.

This Sunday Business Post story shows that significant sectors of the capitalist class understand this dynamic. 

Sources :

https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article69361

IDA boss reveals Sinn Féin plans to woo US firms on corporate tax

Mary Lou McDonald and Pearse Doherty on ‘outreach programme’ to reassure big business, but executives fear wealth tax

Sinn Féin has made it clear to top multinationals that it has no issue with Ireland’s corporate tax rate and will not raise it if elected, the new chairman of IDA Ireland has said.

However, Feargal O’Rourke has revealed that the party is determined to hike personal taxes on top earners, in a move that has prompted serious concerns among business leaders.

O’Rourke, the former head of PwC Ireland, said Sinn Féin has “been very much on an outreach programme” with big businesses since the last election to reassure them it will “not rock any boats” should it gain power.

Senior figures in the party, including leader Mary Lou McDonald and Pearse Doherty, its finance spokesperson, have spoken to “a lot of US companies” to explain its policy priorities and assuage concerns over its stance on corporate taxes, he said.

O’Rourke warned that Sinn Féin’s plan to target high-net-worth individuals with tax increases will be one of the key “battlegrounds in the next election”.

Fergal O’Brien, executive director of lobbying and influence at Ibec, said the business lobby group was happy with Sinn Féin’s enterprise policy, but warned that its stance on personal tax was a cause of concern among companies.

“We don’t see any significant differential on corporate or enterprise tax generally,” O’Brien said, referring to the gap between Sinn Féin and the existing government parties.

Sinn Féin continues to push for higher personal taxes on above-average income earners

But he added: “Where we do disagree with Sinn Féin, and where we have concerns in terms of some of the ultimate employment impacts of some of the tax policies, would be around personal tax.

“Sinn Féin continues to push for higher personal taxes on above-average income earners. We would argue that our personal tax system is one of the most progressive in the world – we have really high personal tax rates.

“There are a lot of pro-enterprise policies, but they’re quite wedded to the higher tax agenda. And they continue to stick to that policy, and that’s something that would concern us,” O’Brien said.

Harry Goddard, managing partner of Deloitte Ireland, told the Business Post that Sinn Féin did a “good job” of calming down international investors by reaching out to them after surging to its best electoral result for a century at the last election in 2020.

“The three topics the international community would say to me about Ireland is talent, housing and stable government policy,” Goddard told the Business Post.

“Prior to Sinn Féin’s campaign last year, international investors were worried. But I think Sinn Féin did a good job of calming everybody down.”

He said the party’s visits to the US in recent years – including McDonald’s trip to Silicon Valley in 2022 – had reassured overseas companies that its business policies would not be radical.

“Fair play to Sinn Fein, they went out to the US, they engaged, said all the right things and provided a lot of confidence. They now need to follow through on that.”

Two senior industry sources said that while Sinn Féin’s engagement with companies had helped soothe their concerns, the party would need to step up its efforts ahead of a general election.

“I know of some companies that are trying to meet with Pearse [Doherty] and he hasn’t come back,” one person said.

Stark warning

O’Rourke’s comments, made on Matt Cooper’s Magnified podcast, come as the head of tax at PwC issued a stark warning about the possible impact on Irish businesses of certain business policies espoused by Sinn Féin.

O’Rourke took over as chairman of IDA Ireland in January after retiring as the head of PwC’s Irish business after 37 years.

Paraic Burke, head of tax at PWC, said that while Sinn Féin’s stance on corporate tax was uncontroversial among companies, the professional services giant had concerns over its policies when it comes to the cost of doing business for Irish firms.

“You would have concerns around it,” Burke told the Business Post, referring to the party’s proposal to gradually increase the rate of employers’ PRSI to the European average, which could double the current rate of social contributions paid by businesses.

“They’re pro-business because they’ve confirmed their support for the 12.5 per cent rate,” he added.

“But I would have concerns around the cost of doing business, and any additional taxes they might put on companies including PRSI. If they raise the cost of doing business, it impacts small businesses who are already under pressure. And it also reduces our competitiveness abroad.”

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