Austerity cuts in North ‘inescapable reality’

Austerity cuts are an "inescapable reality" in the short term in Northern Ireland but a lower rate of corporation tax could deliver "game changing" private sector growth, the president of a leading business body has said in Belfast tonight. Kevin Kingston, president of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the next few years would be difficult but without the catalyst of a lower rate of corporation tax the North would face a vicious circle of cuts and austerity.

The local rate of corporation tax is currently 21 per cent compared to 12.5 per cent in the Republic.

Mr Kingston, who is deputy chief executive of Danske Bank UK, said everyone recognised that the local private sector was too small at the moment to support the “needs and aspirations” of Northern Ireland.

“There is an acknowledgement that the power to set and vary corporation tax is not a silver bullet that will regenerate the Northern Ireland economy overnight, there is an acceptance that it could be transformational over time - and time is moving on,” said Mr Kingston.

It is widely expected that the decision on whether to devolve corporation tax powers to the Northern Ireland Executive will be announced in early December.

Earlier in the day the British prime minister David Cameron told British MPs that the North had a strong case when it came to corporation tax, primarily because of its land border with the Republic.

Tonight Mr Kingston urged political leaders to take bold leaps and not cautious steps when it comes to dealing with tough choices – on flags, parades, dealing with the past and the challenge of welfare reform.

But he also called on the 550 members of the North’s business community gathered in Titanic Belfast to redouble their engagement with local politicians and to rise to the challenge of creating a new future.

Mr Kingston said: “We in the business community – in partnership with the Executive - must create a common vision of genuinely interesting times. Times of prosperity, of wealth creation delivering sustainable employment which tackles the issue of deprivation in our society.

“Above all, times when we can look to the future with confidence and certainty, and not to a past of fear and distrust.”