The Irish government hit upon a very clever strategy of collecting subsidies from the EU, spending that money in lieu of tax in its own territory, therefore being able to charge lower corporation tax, luring jobs away from the very economies that were paying those aformentioned subsidies in the first place! Unfortunately the other EU countries have figured out what was happening now.

Sure, if Ireland chooses to pass on this revenue it should be able to do so, but this should not stop France from taxing a Google that is doing business in France from an Ireland PO Box. The philosophy of the common market predates the global digital market and is no longer adequate.

This is like peeing your pants when it's cold outside, it's nice an warm at first :)

If you look at America you'll see what this race to the bottom does. Amazons new headquarter selection process is entirely about luring tax incentives out of various states.

These schemes are largely outlawed in the EU, for good reason. The play Ireland makes only works because most of the European governments have too much integrity to play this game, and refuse to be beholden by corporate interest.

With the tax equal anywhere in the EU, Ireland would be clearly the #1 place to locate the jobs for large international companies - particularly American ones.

As simonh noted in his reply to your comment, "Having those technical and finance jobs in Ireland builds up a reservoir of skilled labour in those areas that attracts companies. I saw this first hand at at a previous employer. We would preferentially move technology roles to Ireland - speak excellent English, in the EU, cheap office space and plenty of technically capable workers."

Apple's sweetheart deal with the tax authorities here is an embarrassment, but the lesson has been learnt and we won't see that kind of arrangement occurring again.