Ireland denies facilitating tax avoidance practices

Ireland on Friday denied facilitating the so-called tax inversion practices.
"The 'tax inversion' practices referred to in recent days and weeks are not the product of any features of our tax system, we are not in favor of them and do not promote or encourage them," said Richard Bruton, Ireland's minister for jobs, enterprise and innovation.
"Ireland features in only a small minority of these cases worldwide, which also relate to a range of other developed countries," Bruton said in a statement.
Bruton's statement came after U.S. President Barack Obama criticized U.S. companies, which he said were exploiting a legal loophole to reduce the taxes they pay.
In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Obama said businesses who relocate their headquarters to countries with lower tax rates, such as Ireland, are "gaming the system".
Ireland, which has an already low tax rate of 12.5 percent, is criticized in the European Union (EU) for using big tax cuts to attract profitable companies away from other locales.
Obama said U.S. companies were locating in Ireland with a small number of employees to avail of the low tax rate, while employing thousands of people in the United States.
But Bruton said the Irish government does not promote or encourage companies to engage in any practices, which bring little or no substance in terms of jobs or economic activity to Ireland.
"Ireland provides an attractive environment for multinational companies who wish to invest substantively here, grow their businesses, and generate economic activity and jobs," said the Irish minister.
Bruton said that maintaining and improving this environment has been a key part of Ireland's recovery strategy.
"This strategy been successful over the past three years with over 18,000 additional jobs created in multinational companies here. That strong flow is continuing in the first half of this year with a more than 10 percent increase in job commitments over the same period in 2013," he said.
"As part of our recovery strategy, we will continue determinedly to promote Ireland as a location for substantive multinational investment and jobs based on our track record, our talent pool, our technology capabilities," he added.
"Our low, stable, transparent, statute-based corporation tax rate is one part of this strategy and we are absolutely committed to that rate."