Union Leader Out Of Touch

Dublin 32 CSM tell David Begg General Secretary ICTU: "When you have nothing good to say then please be silent."

At the recent Irish Taxation Institute debate chaired by journalist Olivia O’Leary in Kildare St, Dublin, economics professor Karl Whelan said “I don’t think anyone believes” Ireland is going to reach a target of a 3 per cent deficit by 2014.

Also addressing the meeting were Mr David Begg General Secretary ICTU, Prof Whelan, William Slattery of State Street Ireland, and Feargal O’Rourke of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mr O’Rourke and Prof Whelan said they agreed with the European Commissioner Olli Rehn that Ireland’s days as a low tax economy were gone. Mr Slattery said he thought there was an agenda in Europe to push Ireland towards higher taxes but the Government must retain the 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate.

Mr David Begg accepted that Ireland was “under taxed” when compared with other countries. Many years ago he had wanted Ireland to adopt a Nordic model of high taxes and high quality public services; now Ireland was going to get high taxes for all the wrong reasons.

The above comment from Mr. Begg shows just how out of touch he is with the working class and with what is needed to keep jobs in Ireland or to attract much needed inward investment.

Recently, the EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn sparked controversy when he answered a question about Ireland's low corporation tax rate by saying it was "a fact of life" that Ireland would no longer be a low-tax economy over the next 10 years.

On the 18th October, 2010 when asked about the importance of the 12.5pc corporation tax rate in Hollister's decision to locate the new jobs in Ballina, management at the US multinational healthcare company said the 12.5pc rate on offer here was the key factor in deciding to expand its plant in Co Mayo.

Mr. Crowe said: "It's very, very important. The tax rate allows us to re-invest in our facilities. If it weren't there, it would really open us up to looking globally at new sites to manufacture our products. Locations in Eastern Europe, India and the US also pitched for the new plant, but lost out to Ireland's tax incentive”.

Our question to Mr. Begg is how he proposes to attract inward investment from such multi-national companies without the retention of Ireland's low corporation tax rate 12.5pc?

The silence of our union leaders has to date being deafening but having said that maybe it is just as well if the way out of our current economic woes is people like David Begg supporting making a case for Ireland being under taxed.

Silence is golden in this case.