IRELAND MUST “get on the offensive” in the US and explain how it is repairing the country’s economy to differentiate itself from other struggling euro zone countries, according to Dennis Swanson, president of the Ireland-US Council.
Mr Swanson, who is also president of operations at Fox Television Stations, said Ireland’s attempts at economic recovery were not widely known in the US, outside the bond markets.
“It isn’t just about sitting back and being punched up,” said Mr Swanson, who manages 27 stations in the Rupert Murdoch-owned Fox TV network. “Of all the countries facing these kinds of situations, you have to give the Irish higher marks than the rest. But no one is out of the woods yet.”
Speaking before the council’s annual dinner in New York, Mr Swanson said the council had lobbied the UK government to reduce its corporation tax rate in line with the 12.5 per cent on offer in the Republic to stimulate investment.
John Conlan, executive vice-president of IDA Ireland in New York, told The Irish Times that even a small increase in the corporation tax would damage the country’s ability to attract investment.
Diarmuid Hogan, chief executive of New York-based insurer Global Excess Partners, said that the Government needed to “revitalise” what it offered to multinationals to attract more inward foreign investment.
Costs had to fall further and companies needed to be reassured that the low corporation tax rate would not rise, he said.
A fervent supporter of the US Republican party, Mr Hogan warned that another term for Democratic president Barack Obama could prove damaging for US multinationals in Ireland. “He would be able to shove through his high-tax punishment of successful companies. A second Obama term will be hurtful to multinational companies and that is not what we want for foreign direct investment into Ireland,” he said.
Mr Hogan’s insurer, which represents Lloyds of London in the US, has agreed four deals relating to asset sales by the National Asset Management Agency.
It has offered “representations and warranties” insurance to Nama-appointed receivers, indemnifying them against future legal actions.
Mr Hogan said the State loans agency was “way too under-staffed” and “too bureaucratic”.
Joe Byrne, head of Tourism Ireland in the US and Canada, said the number of American visitors to Ireland this year would be close to breaking the previous record.
He attributed this to the strong Irish brand in the US as well as lower prices on food and drink, accommodation and tour operators.
Air fares remained high, however, due to fewer routes and reduced capacity, he said.
