Ireland Needs Smart Policies to Keep Innovating
Summary
The commentary is far off the mark, and the recent Irish budget statement by Finance Minister Michael Noonan will hopefully bring much of the controversy to an end and allow people to focus on the main reasons why many U.S. companies decide to open operations in Ireland.Significant pressure was brought to bear on Ireland as a result of the use of the double Irish by many large U.S. multinational corporations.The ability to set up such a structure will cease at the end of 2014, so I would expect many businesses to take advantage of this strategy over the coming weeks.Lack of such policies and incentives, though, can ensure that an already steep hill is made all the steeper with finance and tax costs, meaning innovation is extremely challenging.[Disclosure: Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon is a sponsor of Xconomy’s Innovation in Ireland special report.