Why Stormont has dithered endlessly on corporation tax

IN BRANDING TERMS, Ireland is a superpower, from world-famous writers and musicians to the Irish-themed pubs scattered across the globe. But for business, as its government’s department of finance cheerily acknowledges, the 12.5% corporate-tax rate introduced in 2003 is “at the centre of the ‘Irish brand’”. Irish operations are central to the tax planning of many multinationals, among them Google, Apple, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. And they, in turn, have been so central to Ireland’s economy that its government long held fast against demands to raise the rate, despite endless complaints from other members of the European Union about undercutting and unfair competition.