Lame-duck President George W. Bush is not that busy these days and here, he is pictured standing between Paul Hill, left, of the National Turkey Federation, and his son, Nathan Hill during the pardoning of the Thanksgiving turkey Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008, in the Rose Garden of the White House. This year marked the 61st anniversary of the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation and Pardoning.

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan told the American Chamber of Commerce Thanksgiving Lunch today that Ireland is reasonably well placed to deal with the global economic challenges which have emerged. Public debt is relatively low; product and factor markets are very flexible, a fact borne out by various international studies and Ireland continues to invest heavily in the skills-set of its labour force, in recognition of the importance of human capital in an increasingly globalised economy.

Lenihan said the burden of taxation on both capital and labour is relatively low, indicative of a pro-business environment where work and enterprise are rewarded. Under the National Development Plan, a major programme of infrastructural investment is underway, in order to eliminate bottlenecks and reduce the cost of doing business in Ireland.

The Minister said Ireland and the US have maintained strong economic links for decades. US investment has been crucial to Ireland’s economic success. It is the largest source of inward investment with almost 100,000 people directly employed in 480 US companies in sectors such as Pharmaceutical, Financial Services and Information and Communications Technology. Investment by American companies in Ireland stands at €63 billion and this investment contributes to the creation of an estimated further 200,000 jobs indirectly. Last year saw American firms contribute €12.5 billion to the Irish economy and approximately €2.5 billion in corporation tax.

Lenihan said while Irish investment in the US is a relatively recent development, it has increased ten-fold in the last decade and Ireland is now one of the ten largest investors in the US market. Irish-owned companies employ more than 80,000 US citizens in over 200 companies across 1,300 locations in 50 states (mainly CRH, which is the biggest building materials supplier in the US). Last year alone, 47 Irish companies opened offices in the US.

Ireland is more dependent on US firms than any other developed economy

Value added of US firms overseas as % of GDP highest in Ireland; US Employment of its Multinationals was 70% of total in 2006 down from 80% in 1988

Foreign-owned firms were responsible for 90.2% of Irish exports in 2006 - including both merchandise goods and internationally traded services

The Minister hailed the significant changes to the R&D tax credit scheme in this year’s Budget and Finance Bill and said further evidence of the Government’s policy of ensuring that Ireland will be one of the foremost knowledge-based economies is the commitment, in the National Development Plan 2007-2013, to spend €6.1bn on science, technology and innovation. This will provide world-leading centres of excellence in fields such as life sciences, medical technologies, software and information technologies.

Lenihan said that he has introduced a 3 year tax exemption on Corporation and Capital Gains tax for companies that commence trading in 2009. An exemption will be granted to new companies commencing to trade in 2009 by reducing the corporation tax relating to the profits of a new trade and the chargeable gains on the disposal of any assets used for the purposes of a new trade to nil. There will be full relief where total corporation tax liability in any of the first 3 accounting periods does not exceed €40,000. There will be marginal relief where corporation tax liability falls between €40,000 and €60,000.

The Minister said that there has been mounting speculation in recent weeks, in the context of the US presidential election, surrounding the potential impact of changes in US tax legislation on US companies based in Ireland.

"We are always mindful of any international developments that could potentially impact on foreign direct investment here. In that respect there is continuous liaison with the business community through domestic and overseas channels to monitor any potential changes," Lenihan said.

"We are pro-business, and proud to be always to the forefront of the minds of American business leaders as they make critical investment decisions," he added.