Ireland, Tax and Development

A fantastic piece of work done on behalf of Oxfam Ireland, Trócaire, Afri, Christian Aid, Comhlámh and Debt and Development Coalition Ireland, was published today entitled Driving the Getaway Car? Ireland Tax and Development.

Read the full publication here and see the press release below:

Poor countries are being robbed of tax revenue and Ireland is not doing enough to stop the theft, according to 6 leading global development organisations. At a Dublin launch of a new book on the issue, ‘Driving the Getaway Car? Ireland, Tax and Development’, written on behalf of the organisations by Dr Sheila Killian of the University of Limerick, the organisations demanded that Ireland act urgently for global tax justice.

‘Driving the Getaway Car?' explains how impoverished countries lose billions of euro through weak domestic tax collection capacities and through unjust international tax structures. Transfer pricing abuse is highlighted as a particular area of concern. This is when subsidiaries of the same multi-national company artificially set the prices of goods and services in order to minimise their tax bills, often through the use of secrecy jurisdictions, popularly known as tax havens. This illegal practice is very difficult to monitor and costs impoverished countries billions in lost tax revenue.

Nessa Ní Chasaide of Debt and Development Coalition commented, “Dr Killian’s important new research demonstrates that impoverished countries are being stripped of billions of euro every year due to an unjust and elaborate international system that enables tax avoidance and evasion. Our message to the Irish government is that impoverished countries are clearly being robbed, and it needs to ensure Ireland doesn’t become the getaway car.

Author of the newly published book, Dr Sheila Killian, highlighted the fact that “Ireland’s tax model clearly does not do enough to protect vulnerable countries from tax revenue losses. Specifically, Ireland should adjust its transfer pricing regime to properly protect impoverished countries from losing tax revenue, and close domestic tax loopholes that may facilitate capital flight from impoverished countries“.

Colin Roche of Oxfam Ireland commented, “Impoverished countries should be supported in protecting desperately needed tax revenue that is rightfully theirs. In particular, multi-national companies must become more transparent in their financial reporting. We call on the Irish government to support the creation of a new financial reporting standard that requires multinational companies to report on their profits and taxes on a ‘country-by-country’ basis. This would provide vulnerable countries with an important new tool to expose tax evasion.”

Your Rights, Right Now

In October, Ireland will be examined for the first time by the United Nations on our human rights record under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

To ensure a robust examination takes place, the Your Rights, Right Now campaign report will be submitted this month to the United Nations Working Group of the UPR.

Individuals and organisations can visit the campaign website and show their support for the great work done by 17 leading organisations in Ireland in compiling this piece of work.

The UPR process is about ensuring real change happens on the ground and human rights protection is verifiably improved.

International Women's Day

The 100th anniversary of International Women's Day is celebrated today with millions of people around the world expected to mark the progress made in women's rights since 1911.

Despite the achievements, women are still denied basic rights in many parts of the world and this is a direct cause of global poverty. International issues ranging from climate change to food justice can only be adequately tackled if the rights and role of women is secured at the very core of any action taken.

However, today is about celebration so it is worth remembering the achievements to date. Take a look at this very brief examination of the last 100 years released by UNWomen earlier this year:

Programme for Government 2011

After 6 days of negotiations, here's what the new coalition partners-to-be have presented the public with:

Programme for Government