Tasc has warned the Irish economy’s dependence on foreign direct investment (FDI) is becoming “increasingly problematic”.
Where such foreign firms were concerned, "taxation has now become more important as the key way in which Ireland is differentiated from other possible locations within the EU".
This has "pitchforked Ireland into a permanent conflict with other EU member states", and it is "unclear why trade unions, greens and social democrats across Europe should facilitate Irish economic growth if it depends on the country's role as a profits recycling plant".
The implications for Ireland were very serious as “of now total employment in the foreign sector is estimated at 174,000 out of total employment of nearly two million. No other European country even approximates this level.
“Crucially, all the other small open economies with which Ireland is often compared have high value-added export sectors but these are not so dependent on FDI,” it said.
Whitaker report
Suggesting that “arguably, the most significant document of Irish 20th century history is not the Proclamation that launched the Rising of 1916 but the Whitaker report of 1958 which ended protectionism and opened the country to FDI”, it noted, how “since that date the commitment to FDI has never wavered”.
The “overwhelming financial incentive” for such firms in coming to Ireland was low corporation tax, the report said.
The report, Enforced Flexibility? Working in Ireland Today, will be launched today.
