Michael O’Leary: ‘I’d be more inclined to rob money out of people’s pockets’

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has criticised the Irish taxation system, saying the government needs to address the unfair and undue tax burden on people.

"It's very hard to hire bright young people and tell them they are going to be paying the top rate of tax at €30,000," he told the Deloitte Enterprise Ireland CEO Forum in Dublin.

He said Ireland’s “gargantuan (commercial) rates” meant Ryanair had taken 600 engineering jobs to Bergamo in northern Italy.

“If the tax rate in Ireland went from 12.5 per cent to 30 per cent I’d be gone in the morning. Ryanair would have no difficulty in moving its headquarters tomorrow,” he added.

He told the forum that Ryanair will be the world’s most searched airline website by the end of this year, adding that the airline expects to double its passengers numbers to approximately 150 million by 2024.

He said the airline is already the world’s biggest international airline with 1,600 routes, 183 airports, 71 bases and 2,000 flights a day.

"We're the biggest international airline in the world, it's not Pan Am, it's not British Airways. it's a bunch of Paddies based out in Swords."

He said the airline would like to operate a low-cost transatlantic service, from 15 European cities to about 12 US cities, but that sourcing long-haul aircraft is a challenge.

“We would need a fleet of long haul aircraft. There is a historical shortage. We can’t get the aircraft we need for three or four years.”

Mr O’Leary told the audience of chief executives in attendance that he has learned humility, adding that there are markets such as the UK, Ireland and Spain, where he irritates more people than he entertains.

“Being nice to people doesn’t come naturally to me. I’d be more inclined to rob money out of people’s pockets. Now I want to put money back in their pocket and help them save money.”

“It’s not enough to be the cheapest anymore. We need to be the cheapest, the best and the friendliest.”

He said he would have been nicer to customers sooner, had he known it “would work so phenomenally well.

He said Ireland’s real engine for growth will be small indigenous firms.

“The engine for growth will be small Irish companies not accepting that being big in Mullingar, Dublin or Ireland is enough. For success we have to be big in Europe and then in the world.”