Non existent regulation and ultra low corporation tax has cross party support among the mainstream here, one of the biggest sacred cows. What is hailed as innovation is effectively Dublin inserting itself into the web with Caymans and elsewhere. Crucially as part of the chain within and giving access to the Eurozone. The Financial Services centre here was dubbed the 'Wild West of European Finance' by the NYT in 2005. There is / was a reputation that you could do business quicker in Ireland. That is a euphemism for not asking questions and offering better discretion then even the Swiss!
The regulator at least pretended they were overseeing Irish banks but the financial centre was outside his remit as far as he and those operating within it are concerned. Though it wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference. It's the back office of the City and every European bank, insurance firm etc had or still has subsidiary, which could be a post box or an shared office with two staff if you're lucky. The details are hammered out in London or Frankfurt then a handful of bankers will fly to Dublin to complete the transaction. The shady stuff happens here under Irish jurisdiction and off the books back home. This is the kind of thing that makes responsible German finger wagging harder to swallow. Frankfurt is sore after being forced to rescue an German bank operating here in 2008. (Depfa)
There are less then 30,000 people working in Financial services here but thousands of shell companies and literally trillions in capital washing in and out. Relatively untaxed here, wherever it came from and wherever it's going.
The ultra low corporation tax means that every company you could think off have their European HQ all on the back of minimising tax and the famous '‘
Double Irish With a Dutch Sandwich". The benefit for us we're told is jobs, of around 100,000. Though this has stayed at this level for the past twenty.
The other benefit is politicians quite enjoy attending the opening of Facebook, google, Intel etc and every pharmaceutical going. Outsourcing job creation fits short-termism like a glove and they can point to Paypal or Pfizer as evidence of their success rather then the country facilitating global tax evasion. This perceived prestige lead Sarkozy to lose the rag ever six months even though France's effective corporate tax rate is closer to 14% compared to our statutory 12.5
The silence is deafening from all when these multinationals up sticks and take their jobs and still billions in profit off to the far east. But the show goes on
