Whether the UK should hold a referendum on continued membership of the European Union (EU) is one of the issues in its general election to be held in May 2015. A possible British withdrawal, or Brexit, would have profound implications for Ireland and particularly for its agri-food sector, given...

Tax expenditures are perceived to represent a ‘pervasive and growing’ (OECD, 2010) element of many national taxation systems. Despite this, in many countries, there remains a critical lack of understanding of their impact and scale. A 2010 OECD analysis produced data for only seven of its...

Ireland’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the EU/IMF requires government to introduce a recurring annual property tax. While the MoU has not specified the precise form this new taxation measure will adopt, commitments in the National Recovery Plan 2011-2014 and Fine Gael/Labour...

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Competitiveness Council (NCC) report that despite pressing EU policy requirements, Ireland remains heavily dependent on indigenous landfill capacity and overseas markets for its Residual Solid Waste (RMSW) reprocessing and waste to energy...