Ireland

Ireland is a small, modern, trade-dependent economy. It received EU approval for its holding regime in 2004 and is widely recognised as a favourable corporate base for international corporate structures. With the introduction of the Ireland/China Double Tax Treaty, Ireland is becoming a competitive gateway for China, Japan and the Middle East. Structuring through Ireland typically also involves countries such as USA, Cayman, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, making our Dublin office a natural link in the network of global offices of Intertrust.

Ireland has a competitive rate of corporation tax within the EU (12.5%) together with a comprehensive list of Double Taxation Agreements with 50 countries, 46 of which are in effect. The Irish government is very committed to attracting foreign direct investment and as such has many incentives in place particularly in the area of Research & Development with additional incentives promised in the upcoming Finance Act. Already over 50 multinationals are using Ireland as their R&D hub.

The Dublin office provides full corporate management and private wealth services and solutions to Irish legal entities including management, administration, domiciliation, listing and registration and professional corporate secretarial services. Clients include private equity companies, multinationals, financial institutions and high net-worth individuals. The Dublin office has a dedicated focus on the marketing of the unique Global Service offering of Intertrust on behalf of the other Intertrust offices around the globe.

Geography	Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain - 53 00 N, 8 00 W
Capital	Dublin
Time zone	UTC 0
Population	4,203,200 (July 2009 est.)
Nationality	Noun: Irishman(men), Irishwoman(women), Irish (collective plural) Adjective: Irish
Languages	English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official) spoken mainly in areas along the western coast
Government type	Republic, parliamentary democracy
Legal system	Based on English common law substantially modified by indigenous concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Economy overview	Ireland is a small, modern, trade-dependent economy. Ireland joined 11 other EU nations in circulating the euro on 1 January 2002. GDP growth averaged 6% in 1995-2007, but economic activity dropped sharply in 2008-09 as GDP fell by 3% in 2008 and nearly 8% in 2009. Ireland entered into a recession for the first time in more than a decade with the onset of the world financial crisis and subsequent severe slowdown in the property and construction markets. Agriculture, once the most important sector, is now dwarfed by industry and services. Although the export sector, dominated by foreign multinationals, remains a key component of Ireland's economy, construction most recently fueled economic growth along with strong consumer spending and business investment. Property prices rose more rapidly in Ireland in the decade up to 2007 than in any other developed economy. However, average home prices have fallen 50% from the 2007 peak. In 2008 the COWEN government moved to guarantee all bank deposits, recapitalize the banking system, and establish partly-public venture capital funds in response to the country's economic downturn. In 2009, in an effort to stabilize the banking sector, the Irish Government announced the establishment of the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), which will acquire property and development loans with a book value of more than $100 billion from Irish banks. Faced with a need to bring the budget deficit down under the 3% EMU limit by 2014, the Irish Government introduced the first in a series of draconian budgets in 2009. In addition to across-the-board cuts in spending, the 2009 budget included wage reductions for all public servants.
Currency	Euro (EUR)