Irish-based multinationals register firms overseas

An examination of five US multinationals with operations in the Republic found structures involving either Dutch holding companies or companies registered in the Cayman Islands.

Intel: Intel Ireland is the main Intel company operating here. It is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and the Irish operation is technically a branch of the Cayman company.

The company employs more than 3,000 people in Leixlip, Co Dublin. It is not known how much corporation tax it has paid here but it is known it has paid significantly more than the £100 million it received in IDA Ireland grants in the past 10 years.

The computer chips produced here are transported to computer assembly plants in the Phillipines and Malaysia. The production in Leixlip is very much the value added part of the international process.

The Intel Corporation headquarters are in California. Profit before tax in the first quarter of this year was $1.1 billion. The effective tax rate for the year is expected to be 30 per cent.

Microsoft: Microsoft Ireland Operations employs 1,600 people here. Its parent is Microsoft Manufacturing B.V., a Dutch company, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, US.

Microsoft Ireland will declare a tax bill of £150 million for the year to June 2000 in documents to be filed in the Companies Office shortly, according to a spokeswoman. The previous year the company paid tax of £76 million on an operating profit of £773 million.

Dell: Dell Products is an Irish company owned by Dutch company Dell Products (Europe) B.V. It employs 5,700 people in Limerick, Bray and Cherrywood, Dublin. For the year ended January 2000 Dell Products reported a profit of $47 million. The ultimate holding company is the Dell Computer Corporation, which has its headquarters in Austin Texas, but is registered in Delaware.

Pfizer: Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals is an Irish company which runs the Pfizer pharmaceutical operations in Cork which employs 1,100 people. Among the products made are the base ingredients for Viagra. The company has a Dutch parent which in turn is owned by Pfizer Inc, in the US. Last month Pfizer reported first quarter net income of $2.1 billion and an effective tax rate of 25.7 per cent for 2001.

Atlantic Industries: Atlantic Industries runs a Coca-Cola essence production plant in Drogheda, Co Louth. Its product, which is exported, is valued at $1 billion annually. Atlantic Industries is a Cayman Islands company registered in this jurisdiction as a foreign company. It does not file accounts here. The ultimate holding company, The Coca-Cola Company, is based in Delaware in the US. Last year, Coca-Cola had a net profit of $2.1 billion.