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Corporations that have seen revenues boom in the past year have come to the attention of global policymakers as they to make inroads tackling growing inequality and swelling government debts.

Large multinationals including or have long come under fire for circumventing potentially huge corporation tax bills through profit shifting and carry overs. Last week鈥檚 agreement could tighten these rules and become watershed moment for the global tax system.

Ireland has benefitted from a favourable tax regime like few others. Investment from large multinational corporations (MNCs) over recent decades has been 鈥渃entral to Ireland鈥檚 recovery from the financial crisis,鈥� according to a recent . An influx of global technology companies has been a boon to the economy. The top technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) companies now occupy a total of 4.8 million square feet in Dublin, according to 博鱼体育集团 Frank Ireland鈥檚 .

These companies continue to expand - Amazon for example recently invested in a 170,000 sq ft Campus in Charlemont Square in Dublin 2. TMT now accounts for 16% of the value of the country鈥檚 GDP. Apple, Facebook, Google and other MNCs and account for over 80% of corporation tax receipts, according to a Reuters report last week.

So though potential tax hikes pose some risk to Ireland鈥檚 TMT dominance, the risks are offset by how embedded these multinationals have become since establishing themselves as many as thirty years ago, according to Joan Henry, Chief Economist and Head of Research 博鱼体育集团 Frank Ireland.

鈥淲hile Ireland鈥檚 favourable tax regime may have been a reason for companies to originally invest here 20 to 30 years ago it is not the only reason and is not why they continue to operate and expand in Ireland,鈥� she adds. 鈥淐onsiderable investment in Research & Development and in education has made Dublin an attractive location to source the level of talent required to attract high value adding companies.鈥�

For the time being, the proposed global changes to corporation tax have a lot of hurdles to jump before being implemented, as well as G20 and OECD backing. Some countries, including Switzerland, are already .

If they do pass, the attractiveness of Ireland will remain underpinned by its EU membership, connectivity, and transatlantic ties (you can even clear US customs in Ireland). That鈥檚 why business from the US accounts for 70% of foreign direct investment in Ireland, which could climb further amid a new wave of technology companies entering the market, says Henry.

鈥淕oogle, Facebook and LinkedIn continue to lead the expansion having started projects to expand before Covid-19,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭he existing tech companies have created an eco-system allowing for a further wave of tech companies, such as Tik Tok, to enter the market.鈥�