A senior adviser to Donald Trump expects he'Â’ll cut US corporation tax in the first 3-4 months of taking office.

It'’s in a bid to lure multinationals back to the US – by reducing the 35 percent tax rate to around 15 percent.

It’'s leading to fears for the future of inward investment by US multinationals,– many of which have their European Headquarters in Ireland.

Juliette Gash reports;
This evening, in a statement to Today FM, the Department of Finance said;

• The Government of Ireland has offered their sincere congratulations to Donald J. Trump on his election as the 45th President of the United States.
• Ireland and the United States have enjoyed a very close and warm relationship for many generations and I am confident that under his leadership our bilateral relations will continue to prosper.
• The Government looks forward to working closely with the new administration in the White House. In the meantime, the Government will continue to engage actively and constructively with the administration of President Obama, until he completes his term on January 20th.
• It is obviously too early to predict what the impact of the change in administration in Washington might be on US tax policy. The US political system is quite complex and tax reform requires agreement of the administration and both houses of Congress.
• There has long been a recognition that some tax reform is needed in the US.  It will become clearer over the coming months if such reform will happen and what any such reform might look like.
• It is not correct to say that any US tax reform would be damaging to Ireland.  For example, US tax reform which shuts down mismatches between US rules and those in other countries could be beneficial.  Where there were mismatches between Irish law and US law, Ireland already acted to shut those down. 
• We will obviously analyse any proposals for US tax reform to assess any potential impact on Ireland.
• Ireland’s corporate tax offering remains, and will remain, attractive for businesses seeking to locate real substance and jobs here.
• It is important to remember that US companies come to Europe and to Ireland for many reasons of which taxation is just one.  A lower US corporate tax rate will not reduce the need for US companies to have operations in Europe.  Ireland remains, and will remain, a very attractive location for US businesses to invest in and operate from.
• Ireland will remain attractive to US companies on account of availability of physical and technological infrastructure, skilled staff, level and scale of technological innovation, regulatory environment/government, political stability, taxation, access to customers and suppliers, costs, culture and quality of life, size of specific markets.