THE TÁNAISTE REASSURED reassured Facebook that Ireland was committed to a low corporate tax rate during a meeting with the social media giant’s senior executives last September

Leo Varadkar virtually met representatives of Facebook on 30 September to discuss issues including Facebook’s investment in Ireland, EU/US data transfers, tax and online content regulation.

Those in attendance included Varadkar, IDA Ireland CEO Martin Shanahan, Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, the company’s vice‑president of global affairs and communications Nick Clegg, and other Facebook staff.

The meeting took place a week before Ireland announced it would sign up to a global agreement that would increase the State’s corporate tax rate for large companies to 15%.

The OECD proposals were approved by Government months after Ireland was one of just a handful of states that initially said it would not agree to the minimum tax deal.

Facebook’s European headquarters is located in Dublin, and it is subject to Irish tax rules and regulated by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

A summary of the meeting, released under the Freedom of Information Act, shows that Clegg asked the Tánaiste about Ireland’s immediate position in relation to corporate tax.

“On tax, Clegg outlined the company’s support for multilateral solutions in terms of the tax regime and said it is an active supporter of the OECD process,” the summary reads.

“He said they were keen to engage on this and to hear what Ireland’s short to medium [term] position is.

“The Tánaiste told him that while there were still some details to be worked out, our intention is to maintain a low corporate tax rate and to ensure that it is stable.

“Martin Shanahan reiterated this point and emphasised that Ireland will remain as competitive as possible within whatever global framework exists and that the IDA will continue to work closely with client companies on this and other key issues.”

Sandberg had earlier thanked the Tánaiste for the Government’s handling of Covid-19 and for enabling Facebook to keep its data centres open throughout the pandemic.

The meeting summary shows that she also highlighted the company’s own attempts to contribute to the fight against Covid-19.

“She said they were proud of the work Facebook had done, in cooperation with the Government, to ensure Irish citizens had access to safe health information, as well as the programmes they put in place to help SMEs such as their grant programme and digital boost programme,” it read.

“She emphasised that Facebook is committed to Ireland for the longer term.”

The subject of data transfers between the EU and the US, which has been the subject of tension between Facebook and the DPC in Ireland and seen the company threaten to pull its services from Europe, was also discussed at the meeting.

However, this section of the summary was redacted under FOI for reasons pertaining to commercial sensitivity.

The matter has come before the Irish courts, and yesterday the Irish Times reported that the DPC had issued a decision to suspend data transfers between the EU and the US.

In a follow-up email to the Tánaiste, also released under FOI, Sandberg further re-iterated Facebook’s commitment to Ireland and specifically thanked Varadkar for the discussion about data transfers.

“It was so nice to see you again, albeit virtually. We are grateful for the continued partnership with your government,” she said.

“Facebook is committed to supporting our users and employees in Ireland. And helping businesses thrive online remains a top priority.

“On data transfers, my team will follow up on the points we discussed. We appreciate your support on this critical issue.

“I hope to see you in Davos next year. In the meanwhile, please stay safe and be well.”