Cantillon: IDA’s jobs annoucements during election queried

One of the interesting questions put to IDA boss Martin Shanahan (pictured) at yesterday's press conference to launch its end-of-year review centred on the agency's policy around job announcements during an election campaign.

Attending these events could, in theory, confer an electoral advantage on incumbent ministers.

Asked if the IDA intended to impose some sort of moratorium on announcements in the immediate run-up to poll, Mr Shanahan said it was companies, not the IDA, that make job announcements.

However, he insisted the agency would be “extremely judicious” when it came to announcing new investments during the campaign, whatever that means.

In fairness, the IDA has few precedents to go on, given the previous campaign in 2011 was fought amid an avalanche of job losses.

Mr Shanahan said State agencies, such as the IDA, were strictly apolitical. “We have a view on policies as they affect foreign direct investment, but we’re apolitical and therefore we are extremely judicious from the time that elections are announced to the point when they happen.”

Also attending the launch, and clearly enjoying questions about whether the IDA should temper the positive news flow during the campaign, was Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton.

He said it must mark some sort of “watershed” in Irish political life to have members of the media asking about whether jobs announcements would continue at “these historic rates and might that influence an election result”.

Later, it was suggested to Shanahan that the IDA’s policy of seeking to keep the State’s personal taxation rates under review represented a “political slant”, given not all the political parties backed cutting taxes.

“Again it’s not party political, it’s just a fact . . . personal taxation rates influence our ability to attract the most talented . . . and if we want them here we have to be mindful of how our personal taxation rates compare to other countries,” he said, noting the higher marginal rate here was uncompetitive.

All told, it’s hard to believe the Coalition won’t have teed up a few investment nuggets for the forthcoming campaign. The question is whether Bruton will have the podium to himself.