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Irish Want Obama to Keep Tax Breaks

By
Paddy Clancy and Barry McCaffrey,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, March 10, 2009, 1:23 AM
Updated Thursday, July 23, 2009, 6:00 PM

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The Irish government is preparing an intense lobbying campaign to persuade President-elect Barack Obama to keep almost 100,000 jobs in U.S. multinationals in Ireland.

Obama warned during his presidential election campaign that he would help protect the domestic economy by ending tax breaks to American firms who shifted investment to other countries. That could include 580 U.S. multinationals in Ireland.

Intel, Dell, Microsoft, Pfizer, Google and their compatriot firms produce goods and services valued at €47 billion each year and are worth at least €3 billion a year to the Irish Exchequer, according to estimates from the American Chamber of Commerce. It would be a hammer-blow to Irish industry if they were forced to pull out by Obama's proposed policies.

Already IDA Ireland, the Irish government's agency to secure new investment from overseas, has moved to bid to ensure the multinationals remain.

IDA Ireland chiefs discussed the matter with senior members of Obama's campaign team before he was elected. More meetings are expected following his victory last week.

The government plans to lobby members of Congress, particularly public representatives with strong ties to Ireland.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin said that Irish companies directly support about 80,000 jobs in the U.S. and that Irish-US foreign investment was "a two-way street."

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said there would be "continuous liaison" with the business community through diplomatic and overseas channels to monitor any potential changes to the U.S. tax system. Lenihan said his department was "always mindful" of any international developments that could potentially impact on foreign direct investment in Ireland.

However, he added that many of the proposed US tax changes were speculative.

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