A leading figure in the information technology and communications sector said today that the debate about Ireland being a 'tax haven' is incorrect and ignores the sector's role in Ireland's economic success.
Michael Daly, ICT Ireland
Responding to recent claims that tech companies such as Microsoft and Google were overstating the earnings of their Irish subsidiaries to avail of favourable corporation taxes, Mr Michael Daly, chairman of ICT Ireland said the ICT sector was vital to Ireland's future economic success.
"Ireland is the fastest growing economy in Europe and the foreign investments in the ICT sector are returning very positive returns on investments, both for the country and for the companies who have decided to invest here.
"The ICT sector is a major contributor to the Irish Exchequer, contributing annually in excess of €629 million in corporation tax and €1.682 billion in PAYE & PRSI contributions" he said.
Mr Daly, who is also general manager of IBM in Ireland, said Ireland offers a "straightforward and open tax model" which has been key to the country's economic success.
"Other countries are free to harmonise taxes downwards to what we have: there is no argument for Ireland to go back to formulae that do not work," he said.
Progressive tax policies aside, Mr Daly said Ireland continues to be an attractive business location because of its skilled workers, good ICT infrastructure and openness to foreign talent.
To sustain current prosperity Mr Daly said Government and industry must ensure that Ireland retains and extends its leadership role in the high tech and knowledge sector.
Mr Daly said, 'One challenge we face is ensuring we have a rich pool of talent available to us. The other is to accelerate the pace at which the indigenous part of the sector develops and builds scale. We also need to ensure that ICT companies in Ireland engage in more R&D and get closer to their final customer'.
Mr Daly was launching the ICT Ireland strategic document Vision 2006-2009.