Ahead of the joint ministerial group on Corporation Tax, Northern Ireland Conservatives’ chairman, Irwin Armstrong, has called on politicians and the public to get fully behind a measure which could prove “a game-changer for Northern Ireland”.
“Northern Ireland Conservatives and the business community have strenuously pressed the case for devolving powers to set Corporation Tax to the Assembly and lowering the tax in order to kick-start our economy. Support from the parties at Stormont has proved rather more unpredictable and conditional.”
“It’s vitally important that everyone in Northern Ireland now gets behind the proposals, as this important series of meetings begins. The Treasury has yet to make a conclusive decision and it must see clearly that there is overwhelming support for lower Corporation Tax here and an absolute determination to get on with growing the economy.”
“That will entail working out the cost to the block grant of a tax cut, but it will not involve negotiations. The cost is the cost, and that money will in any case stay in Northern Ireland’s economy, at the sharp end, where it can most effectively create new jobs and investment. The key question is, if the government offers the Northern Ireland Executive the means to grow the economy, will it grab the opportunity wholeheartedly and do everything in its power to make it a success?”
“The debate about Corporation Tax has often focused on the Republic of Ireland and low rates in the South have certainly proved the most important driver for its economy. Throughout the world, though, there is powerful evidence that low business taxes stimulate the type of rapid growth which Northern Ireland sorely needs.”
“In Canada low rates have allowed the country to ride out the recession comparatively unscathed, while the same model has been hugely successful in Hong Kong and Singapore. Meanwhile many of our competitors in Eastern Europe are using low Corporation Tax to fuel rapidly expanding economies.”
“Lower Corporation Tax rates are still by far the best plan we have to create jobs and lasting prosperity far Northern Ireland. Let’s demonstrate that we’re completely behind the devolution of powers to Stormont and that we’re determined to do everything possible to build a strong, successful economy for generations to come.”