Ireland will continue to attract firms looking to relocate to another country given it does not have a reputation as a tax haven.

This is one of the views from a number of international experts who believe Ireland will continue to be the domicile of choice for firms in the coming years.

Regulatory director with KPMG, Jane Portas said she expects more companies to consider locating in Ireland. "I think what you are going to see is a lot of companies looking at their structures," she said.  Ms Portas said Ireland is not an automatic choice because "there are lots of different reasons why people move".

Recently XL Capital announced it was leaving the Cayman Islands to domicile in Ireland. Previous to this were moves by companies with a strong maritime business link including TBS International, Willis Group and Beazley Group. Zurich Financial Services recently announced it was transferring the majority of its general insurance portfolios in Italy, Portugal and Spain to local branches of Zurich Insurance Ireland.

Tax partner at KPMG, Stuart Secker said overall regulatory environment, taxes, infrastructure, availability of skilled workers and language make Ireland attractive to companies considering moving. When Willis said it was moving to Dublin it pointed to "a more stable environment" and said it would improve its ability to "maintain a competitive worldwide effective corporate tax rate".

Source: The Irish Times, January 2010