July 4th traditionally sees an outbreak of celebration about Ireland’s economic ties with America. If talk of “Ireland Inc” makes you queasy, this is the annual peak.

Timely, then, that on the eve of this, the latest tax figures showed that Ireland was in line for another strong year of corporate tax revenues, the vast bulk of them from giant US firms with operations here. It is the continuation of a story which dates back more than a decade – a transatlantic corporate embrace on which Ireland is now hugely reliant.

More than €35 billion in corporation tax is likely to be paid to the Irish exchequer this year, enough to pretty much cover the entire health budget and the majority of education spending for 2026. No surprise, then, that a few tax tweaks in October’s budget will again be aimed at keeping these big taxpayers onside – sorry, I meant of course, underpin Ireland’s competitiveness.

And the extraordinary revenues will have another budgetary impact. A significant income tax package, already flagged by Minister for Finance Simon Harris, is now a racing certainty after yesterday’s figures showed total tax receipts of more than €50 billion in the first six months of the year. Even though the budget changes may just adjust the system for inflation it will, in time-honoured fashion, be presented as some kind of bonanza for middle Ireland.

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The bill will, again, be paid by the ongoing rise in corporate tax revenues much of which, it could be argued,........

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