• jagermo
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    7 days ago

    Because its main export was/is being a tax haven inside the EU.

    • ricdeh@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Yep. They tried desperately to build up an IT economy and for that wanted to appease all the tech companies.

    • Quicky@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      Yeah I get that, and that’ll be because of the long term financial benefits of enticing the companies there. But still…€13bn is a mad figure.

    • lobut@lemmy.ca
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      7 days ago

      But like, what financial benefits do they get from this? Like the country itself. I’m really bad in this area. Like, do they buy property or set up a thin business? Does that pull in enough?

      • jagermo
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        7 days ago

        As i see it, not an expert:

        Basically, the plan goes back to the early 2000s. Irland did not have much tech industry and positioned itself as an English speaking country cheaper and more friendly than the UK, giving mostly US companies an easy place to enhance their EU business.