Blatant hypocrisy from Sinn Fein trying to blow windfall tax after a career spent undermining FDI – Carroll MacNeill

The blatant hypocrisy from Sinn Fein in trying to blow the corporation tax windfall despite having spent the past 13 years trying to undermine foreign direct investment is nothing short of shocking, a Fine Gael Minister has said.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Minister of State at the Department of Finance, asked how much of the projected windfall would be under threat if anti-FDI Sinn Féin was in government.

Minister Carroll MacNeill said: “The blatant hypocrisy here is shocking. In 2013, Sinn Fein wanted multinationals hauled before an Oireachtas Committee to question them about their financial affairs^[1].

“In 2020, Sinn Fein wanted an ‘Expert Review of Corporation Tax’ and to effectively tax multinationals out of the Irish market^[2].

“The very companies who, together with indigenous Irish businesses, played a crucial role in lifting Ireland out of the last recession and continue to help us as we rebuild our economy after Covid.

“Just last year, Sinn Fein was on the record for wanting to abolish the Special Assignee Relief Programme, which Ibec said would risk damaging Ireland’s ability to compete for highly skilled staff^[3].

“And now Sinn Fein wants to go on a spending bonanza on the windfall gains that are vulnerable to shocks and must be managed.

Minister Carroll MacNeill continued: “We’ve gone from corporate tax receipts of €4 billion ten years ago to €22.5 billion last year. This reflects corporate tax, income tax right across Ireland, but is highly concentrated in Windfall, with the bulk of it from just ten firms.

“When we have opportunities like this, with a tax intake of this kind, we need to use that wisely because nobody will thank us in 15 years’ time if we blow it as Sinn Féin now wants to do.

“A report was published this morning (Weds) with different options to be considered by Government on how best to prudently deal with this windfall – should we look at a sovereign wealth fund?

“What about an extension of a type of a pension reserve fund – we have a very significant pension issue coming down the line, we have an aging population, how do we future proof for that.

“We will examine options around capital infrastructure, acknowledging our aging population and making provision for that.

“Sinn Féin cannot be trusted – with windfall gains or any other aspect of the economy. They are a high tax, anti-jobs party,” Minister Carroll MacNeill concluded.

ENDS

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^[1] Taxes – Dáil Finance Committee rejects Pearse Doherty’s move to quiz multinationals | An Phoblacht

² Corporation tax: ‘Exactly the right time’ to change rules for multinationals, Pearse Doherty says | Newstalk

³Sinn Féin tells multinationals it will ‘abolish tax deal’ for high-earning executives (irishexaminer.com)