Danny Kinahan MLA, Ulster Unionist Party spokesperson on the economy, has welcomed the ‘in principle’ decision of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to devolve the power to vary Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland.

 Danny Kinahan said:

 “I welcome the Chancellor’s announcement to devolve Corporation Tax in principle to the Northern Ireland Executive.  I also welcome his commitment elsewhere in the Autumn Statement to do more to ensure all businesses pay all tax due.

 “The devolution of Corporation Tax has been tied to a successful outcome of the current talks process being chaired by the Secretary of State. The Ulster Unionist Party remains fully engaged in that process, and focused on the need for the Northern Ireland Executive to balance its books. We cannot go on saddling future generations with massive debt because we are living so far beyond our means.

 “The Ulster Unionist Party were the first to advocate and promote the policy of reducing Corporation Tax for companies in Northern Ireland.   In all our recent statements on the subject we have been at pains to acknowledge that the current financial debacle at Stormont is the worst possible context for contemplating introducing a lower rate.  In ideal circumstances the power to devolve would have been made 4 years ago, and we could have made the necessary adjustments to phase in the reduction and lower our dependency on the block grant from Westminster.

 “Of necessity, any reduction in the rate of Corporation Tax will have to be carefully planned and phased in over a period of three to five years.  First of all, however, Stormont needs to get its public finances onto an even keel, and yes the Executive has to prove that it is able to manage its budget.

 “I have been disappointed about the tone of some of the more negative comments made about this issue in recent days.  What Northern Ireland needs above all, in terms of an economic strategy, is a focus on wealth creation. 

 “Reducing Corporation Tax is not about giving big companies a tax break. It is about creating the business environment where we attract more big businesses, grow the overall Corporation Tax take, create tens of thousands of new jobs, with the associated increase in income tax, national insurance and VAT payments, thus generating the additional taxes that will fund and protect our public services.”

 “The Ulster Unionist Party welcomes this in principle decision as a positive move in the right direction.”