McCreevy Committed To Path Of Low Taxation
by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London
10 November 2003

Irish Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy told the Construction Industry Federation business conference last Thursday that he has no intention of “rolling back” tax cuts and remains committed to a path of low taxation.

“My approach to taxation, together with the management of expenditure, reduction of the debt burden and establishment of the National Pension Reserve Fund have been based on a long term view of the need to ensure that fiscal policy delivers the right conditions for prosperity for all our citizens," Mr McCreevy told the conference, adding that:

"While I support sensible borrowing, I am not a believer in excessive borrowing, as that will lead inevitably to higher taxation and undermine the economy."

"Rolling back our tax reforms is not on. Lower taxation has been good for the country and I intend to stick to that path", McCreevy declared.

The Finance Minister’s speech came in the wake of the Exchequer’s latest tax return data for October, which saw the shortfall for the first ten months of the year rising to 2.16 billion euros. However, analysts remain confident that the Finance Ministry’s predicted shortfall of 500 million euros will be met by the end of the year.

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