Ireland's growth looks impressive. Until you read the small print

The Herald Scotland

a day ago

These figures are, however, astonishing, just too good to be true – and they are.
Irish growth is hugely inflated by the presence of large US multinationals in the high-tech sector, especially in pharmaceuticals and digital technologies.
The capital flows – investments, repatriated profits, IP ownership etc – and trade flows – imports and exports – associated with their operational activity and financial engineering, heavily distort the picture of what's happening elsewhere in the Irish economy.
The lowest corporation tax rate in Europe (12.5%) and other sweeteners have helped to attract these US behemoths.
This has already put the Irish Government in the crosshairs of the EU: last year the European Court of Justice required a reluctant Irish Government to claw back 13 billion euros from Apple on the grounds that unlawful tax advantages had been granted.
Now, reciprocal tariffs of up to 50% are being threatened by the Trump administration: not good news for the likes of Pfizer, in Cork, which exports 80% of its drugs back to the US for finishing. Unsurprisingly, the high surge in Irish first-quarter growth is in large part due to stockpiling by these businesses in anticipation of new tariffs being imposed.
Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, described Irish growth as 'leprechaun economics' where GDP is 'artificially' distorted by multinational tax strategies. He's right.
The main lesson for Scotland is to avoid dangerous over-dependence on powerful multinationals and to try to keep on Trump's good side – at least until things change. Other home-grown development paths are always available.
Ewen Peters, Newton Mearns.
Read more letters:
Swinney should call an NHS summit
I recently read a letter, published elsewhere, from a group of senior health professionals who very crisply, in a blameless collegiate way, described a way forward for our NHS and Social Care.
In essence they are calling for John Swinney to put aside party politics and call a non-political summit to discuss and review the way forward for our health service.
We've had various summits most recently about the rise of far right so surely it shouldn't to too difficult to organise this considering it's the subject uttermost in the minds of most citizens' concerns. Of course these experts are not suggesting that a simple summit will solve all the ills of our health and social care but as the start of a cross-party approach, upon which there are many areas of common ground.
Our politicians owe us this but sad to say, with another election looming, I somehow doubt anyone has the guts or ambition to grasp the health nettle and plot a way forward. Come on, John, do as you say and put the people of Scotland First.
Ian McNair, Cellardyke.
Summits are the height of delusion
I know that the SNP likes to pretend that Scotland is a sovereign state bestriding the world stage. After all, as Cabinet secretary Mairi MacAllan told Holyrood in February 2024, 'More often than not, world leaders are approaching the Scottish government asking for our advice on how we have managed to lead the way so successfully on a number of fronts'. If you believe any of that, you will believe anything.
John Swinney's self-important contribution to this is to hold 'summits'. Did we ever hear positive results from the one in April when he gathered the not very great or good together to devise a strategy for combating Reform? That went well last week.
Now he is to hold a 'summit' on the scourge of knife crime. Some angry Scottish nationalists on social media are asking why he isn't holding a summit on independence, instead, which gives an indication of their (lack of) interest in the wellbeing of Scots.
A summit is normally understood as a meeting of world leaders on a pressing issue of international concern. Using it to describe the deliberations of a devolved authority on a serious internal problem is to indulge in delusions of grandeur. Par for the SNP course.
Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh.
Organising NHS staff properly
Iain McNicol's letter (June 9) gives a glowing review of his NHS treatment and he suggests that taxes should be increased to improve funding of this enormous organisation. Not everyone has been so well treated and many have to wait a very long time for treatment. I speak from some experience.
Television is full of programmes about hospitals, emergency services, ambulances. et cetera. Even for a minor accident it is not unusual to have a couple of ambulances, a fast response paramedic, the Hazardous Area Response Team, the fire service, a couple of police cars and a JRU (Joint Response Unit).
In many cases a helicopter is called in to add to the mayhem and sometimes sent away again as not needed. The scene is a sea of blue lights and all colours of high-vis jackets. What does all that cost and could it not be more economically organised?
Then the scene switches back to the A&E department and here you can see a large number of staff milling around, sitting at computers.
I don't think funding is the problem. I think it has more do with actual organisation, but with an enormous unionised workforce it will never be sorted out.
David Gilchrist, Paisley.
Scotland's Child Payment has been a success
There can be little doubt that the Scottish Child Payment (SCP) is one of the most progressive initiatives delivered by either the UK government or any of the devolved ones during the last 10-15 years.
Author, political commentator and Oxford University Professor Danny Dorling acknowledged this at the weekend when he said the SCP had significantly helped tackle child poverty in Scotland while remaining almost entirely ignored by politicians in England, whom he accused of wearing 'unbelievable blinkers'. He added that for an eligible family, 'If you've got three kids that's about £4,000 a year extra – that means that your children can eat and eat well, I mean healthily'.
Figures published in March indicated that 31% of children across the UK were in relative poverty compared with 30% a year earlier. In Scotland the rate was 22% compared with 26% for the previous year.
The SCP is yet another example of positive change initiated by the Scottish government and as such, is in stark contrast to the 'change' promised but not delivered by UK Labour. As Professor Dorling intimates, it is strange that there is such widespread ignorance of it south of the border. Perhaps the Child Poverty Task Force set up by Keir Starmer will recommend its adoption right across the UK.
Alan Woodcock, Dundee.
Sarwar did well in his TV interview
They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The letter from S. McArthur (June 10) would suggest that the same seems to apply to political programmes. Contrary to the views expressed, I found Anas Sarwar's interview to be excellent. He dealt at length with issues relevant to the Scottish Parliament, which was what the by-election was all about and declined the invitation to dwell on issues for which the First Minister has no responsibility whatsoever. He answered at length matters which they are. As a Labour voter I was very proud.
John Swinney, a nice man, demonstrated the pressures he had been under the whole week-end, and was understandably crestfallen.
I am sure that I was not alone in being hugely impressed by the interview with Dame Jackie Baillie as the votes were being counted. Emotionally drained, she gave the honest answer that at that point the result was too close to call. It came as no surprise when we saw the Herald's picture of Dame Jackie in tears. As a Labour voter I thought that, not for the first time, she is the kind of person who gives politics a good name.
Sir Tom Clarke, Former Labour MP for Coatbridge.
Election count
It would appear that the First Minister does not even have a basic grasp of maths – pretty essential, may I suggest, for this role.
He claimed that the Labour vote at Hamilton 'collapsed by 20% from 50% to 30%'; this is a reduction of 20% points, the actual percentage reduction is an entirely different figure . Perhaps the Cabinet Secretary for Education could put him right?
Mike Flinn, West Kilbride.