'Worthwhile Discussions' On Corporation Tax

The process of securing a lower rate of corporation tax for NI businesses took a further step forward today with a joint ministerial working group meeting to discuss the issue at Stormont.

After the meeting, the talks on the proposed reduction in corporation tax in Northern Ireland have been described as both "very constructive" and also "worthwhile".

Top Stormont Ministers met with a delegation from Westminster for the talks that were chaired by UK Treasury Minister David Gauke.

The meeting looked at dropping the rate of corporation tax in NI from 26% to match the 12.5% that is current in NI's nearest competitor, the Irish Republic

Both the DUP Leader and First Minister Peter Robinson and the Deputy First Minister, Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness (both pictured) initially said they "very content" with the meeting later adding: "We welcome the fact that the group has met and we look forward to working together to reach a position where we have the powers to set out our rate of corporation tax."

Also present was the NI Secretary of State Owen Paterson and the Stormont Executive's Finance Minister Sammy Wilson.

Afterwards, Mr Gauke said officials would now work on detailed plans about how a cut could work and the possible implications.

Mr Gauke said: "This was a useful first meeting of the Ministerial Working Group. I welcome the ongoing engagement with the Northern Ireland Executive as we seriously examine the implications of devolution of corporation tax rates, including on costs and the impact on businesses, before we can decide whether devolution would be in the interests of both Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole."

For many months, there has been pressure for change as both business leaders and political representatives campaigned to see the tax reduced in the hope that this would boost the economy and help NI companies compete.

The Secretary of State also described the meeting as "significant" and said "real work on devolution of corporation tax had started."

"We made an election and then a coalition government commitment to consult on a paper on rebalancing the Northern Ireland economy.

"We have delivered those commitments and together we now need to discuss this in real detail before the Government decides whether or not to proceed further. The discussion at today's meeting was a most constructive first step," he said.

Back in October, Owen Paterson told the Tory conference that he was setting up the Joint Ministerial Group to examine these issues.

At the time, he said: "It is absolutely right as a responsible government that we should get into the nitty-gritty."

But, he said that the transfer of the power to Stormont would mean a corresponding cut in the block grant from Westminster.

He added - there's a complication in that - as a public consultation on the issue had raised "considerable disagreement" on how much the block grant should be reduced.

In July, the former SDLP Leader Margaret Ritchie met with the UK Secretary of State to push the case for a reduction in corporation tax in Northern Ireland.

"Owen Patterson confirmed that the Treasury still remains unconvinced as to the benefits in the reduction of corporation tax.

"If we are to move our economy out of recession, and onto a new growth trajectory, then we need to take control of more economic levers," she said, at the time.

See: Corporation Tax Devolution 'In The Balance'

See: Ritchie Still Pushing for Corporation Tax Slash

(BMcC)