John Bruton, who is chairman of IFSC Ireland, says that Friday's comments from the IMF on the Irish corporation tax rate will be noted by the authorities in Europe and by the French Finance Minister Christine Largarde, who is tipped to take the top job at the International Monetary Fund.
Mr Bruton was addressing the European Insurance Forum in the RDS this morning.
He reminded delegates at the conference that the IMF's Ajai Chopra said on Friday any increase in the corporation tax rate here was not part of the agreed EU/IMF programme because such an increase would not be consistent with the overall goal of the programme in sustaining growth.
Mr Bruton said that Minister Lagarde will also have noted that Irish corporation tax receipts had overperformed and are thus contributing more than expected to Ireland's loan repayment capacity.
Mr Bruton also said that Mr Chopra urged the European Union to reassure the markets by putting in place the right amount of finance, on the right terms for the right duration to support states in the euro zone who may get into difficulty.
'The truth of the modern European economy is that we are all tied together and we can either keep one another afloat or drag one another down,' Mr Bruton stated.
He said that Europe will see many more crises. 'We need political institutions in the EU that are strong enough, democratic enough, decisive enough, and inclusive enough, to face anything the future may throw at them. 'That is the enduring lesson we must take away from this crisis,' he said.
Speaking on Morning Ireland this morning, Mr Bruton said the visit of US President Barack Obama to Ireland is a tremendous event. He noted that the US is the most important source of foreign direct investment here and a good political relationship between Ireland and the US is critically important.
Mr Bruton says that 10% of all re-insurance in written out of Ireland and says he sees good potential for growth in the industry as the country gets more competitive in areas of wages and rents.
On the presidency, Mr Bruton said that was not a matter which he proposed to discuss today.
