Government needs to “wake up” on taxation, says O’Callaghan

Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan has said the government needs to “wake up and take some responsibility” on Ireland’s taxation.

The Dublin Bay North TD serves as the Soc Dem spokesperson on finance, and was speaking after the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council revealed that almost half of corporate tax paid in Ireland in 2024 came from just three companies.

The IFAC found that three multinationals paid around €13 billion or 46% of Ireland’s total corporate tax take.

Ireland’s corporate tax regime has been widely regarded as a major reason for Ireland managing to post consistently solid economic growth at a time of economic stagnation in the rest of Europe, but O’Callaghan warned that Ireland is over-dependent on it.

Last year’s tariff-related psychodrama with the United States put a point on just how reliant Ireland’s economy is on multinational tax takes, a fact which O’Callaghan is keen to stress (this article appeared in print in the Northside People prior to Donald Trump introducing a fresh set of 15% global tariffs

“Last year, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council warned that overreliance on unstable corporate tax revenues is reckless,” he noted, and that last October’s budget, the tax take dropped by  €1.3 billion, which further increased economic reliance on corporation tax.

O’Callaghan warned “the government continues to ignore the experts on this issue as it narrows our tax base even further, leaving us ever more exposed and over-reliant on volatile corporation taxes.”

The Social Democrats TD called the government’s economic outlook “irresponsible” and warned “it will limit our ability to withstand future challenges and any international economic headwinds that may be coming.

He said that Ireland faces a range of problems, which he cited as “an ageing population, threadbare public services and enormous holes in our climate action plan.”

“Instead of disproportionately relying on corporation taxes, the government should be doing much more to invest in our indigenous industries. Those small and medium businesses are the lifeblood of our towns and cities.”

He stated, “this government has its head in the sand and is gambling with our economic future – it’s time they wake up and take some responsibility.”