Ireland as a Base for European Business

• Introduction
• Irish Government's Attitude To Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
• Typical Trading Structures for Doing Business in Ireland
• Irish Tax Incentives Attracting Overseas Investment
• Banking & Finance in Ireland
• Ireland's Intellectual Property Framework (IP)
• Other Factors
• Conclusion

Other Factors that Make Ireland an Ideal Base for European Business

Changes in Legal & Taxation Structures Unlikely to Affect Current Status of Irish Based Foreign Business

It is quite clear that there have been substantial changes in the European and World economy during the past 12 to 18 months. These have created significant uncertainty in the corporate business world, making it inherently more difficult to make forward planning decisions. Whilst Ireland has clearly been an excellent location for European trading in previous years this does not necessarily hold in such a dramatically changing environment. Question marks over possible Irish government changes in fiscal/taxation policy are natural in this light. However, whilst it has been a tough and unsettled financial year there are positive signs in both the multi-national corporation and SME business world's that the benefits of locating a business in Ireland continue to stand. With government recognition of the importance in supporting FDI, it appears there are unlikely to be significant changes in legal & taxation structures that may adversely affect the current status of Irish based foreign business. The examples of multi-national activity in Ireland this year alone coupled with the signs in my own practice amongst the SME market appear to suggest that Ireland continues to be a suitable strategic location for European business.