Ireland will not move corporate tax rate in either direction - finance minister

LONDON (Reuters) - There is no question of Ireland moving its 12.5 percent corporate tax rate in either direction in response to other jurisdictions cutting their rates as it would only sow uncertainty, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said on Wednesday. "The strongest card we have to play is certainty. If we were to move down or up, we'd take away the certainty of the system so there's no question of changing from 12.5 percent in either direction," he told reporters on the sidelines of a tax conference. "The strongest thing we have on tax at this stage is that internationally everybody knows that Ireland and 12.5 percent corporate tax are synonymous. It's almost an Irish brand now." (Reporting by Padraic Halpin, editing by Estelle Shirbon)