IRISH COMPANIES LINKED TO FURTHER LUXEMBOURG TAX DISCLOSURES - New disclosures about Luxembourg tax agreements involving billions of euro by companies with operations in Ireland are published today as politicians across Europe expressed concern about the EU member-state’s dealings with multinationals.
The agreements include ones negotiated by global funds that invested in TV3 and the company that owns Daft.ie and TheJournal.ie, as well as a Canadian energy company with a stake in the Corrib gas project. Agreements involving medtech groups Shire and Covidien are also reported, writes the Irish Times. The German economics minister Sigmar Gabriel called on the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, to prioritise the fight against tax avoidance. However, other politicians pointed out that it was while Mr Juncker was finance minister, and then prime minister of Luxembourg, that it developed the practices now causing controversy. As EU finance ministers gathered in Brussels, Mr Juncker did not answer questions and cancelled a scheduled public appearance. A European Commission spokesman said Mr Juncker was “serene” about the revelations.
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NEW OVERSEER OF CREDIT UNIONS AFTER DEPARTURES - Responsibility for the credit union sector has moved from the Financial Services Unit to the Shareholder Management Unit in the Department of Finance. The move has been prompted by a series of personnel changes, said a spokesperson for the department reports the Irish Examiner. Ronan Hession and Pat Casey both had responsibility for credit unions at the Financial Services Division. However, Mr Hession has now moved to the Central Bank and Mr Casey has been seconded to the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry. Murray McCarter will now oversee credit unions. However, the same staff that had been in charge of credit unions in the Financial Services Division have been moved across to the Shareholder Management Unit. Finance Minister Michael Noonan has made available €250m for the restructuring of the credit union sector ahead of new capital requirements that come into effect next year. From then all credit unions will be required to hold reserves equal to 10% of total assets. In order to be eligible to tap the stabilisation fund, a credit union must have minimum reserves of 7.5% and has to be, in the opinion of the Central Bank, a viable entity.
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DAA's PROFITS TO HIT €180m AS ECONOMY TAKES UPTURN - The Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) is likely to see its profits jump 12% to €180m this year on the back of the improved Irish economy, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor's. S&P has raised the authority's corporate credit rating and said traffic volumes this year have been "well above our expectations", says the Irish Independent. S&P said the predicted increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) at the DAA, which controls operations at Dublin and Cork, will probably offset the Commission for Aviation Regulation's reduction in the maximum passenger charge that Dublin Airport can levy between 2015 and 2019. S&P raised the airport authority's corporate credit rating from BBB to BBB+. It noted that passenger volumes at Dublin, which generates about 80% of the DAA's adjusted EBITDA, have risen by 6.7% in the first nine months of the year to 16.6 million. Dublin Airport handled almost 20.2 million passengers last year, up 6% on 2012. It has attracted a number of new services that have started this year or are due to commence in 2015.
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UK BUSINESSES URGED TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST EUROSCEPTICS - Britain’s leading business advocate has called on chief executives to speak out against euroscepticism, warning that the benefits of EU membership were being buried under “unremittingly negative” media coverage. John Cridland, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said business leaders needed to “learn the lessons” from the Scottish referendum and not leave it to the last minute to engage on politically charged issues. The business case for freedom of movement within Europe was “being drowned out” by anti-immigration views, he told the Financial Times. “I don’t come across a CBI member company that isn’t reliant in one way or another on the single market of labour,” Mr Cridland said. “It is quite odd that the voice [of business] isn’t being heard in the debate about freedom of movement . . . [It] expects the CBI to do the heavy lifting.” His comments reflect a mood of deepening concern in business over the prospect of Britain leaving the EU in the event of a referendum. Relations between Britain and Europe are under increasing strain, as the Conservatives step up their anti-European rhetoric in a bid to halt the UK Independence party’s momentum ahead of the Rochester by-election.
