used 2015 data to show the gross operating surplus of foreign companies in Ireland was almost exclusively from U.S. companies, with the UK was a distant second, and little other foreign firm activity. In 2016–2017, foreign multinationals, being entirely U.S.–controlled: Directly employed one–quarter of the Irish private sector workforce; Paid an average wage of €85k (€17.9bn wage roll on 210,443 staff) versus the Irish Industrial wage of €35k; Directly contributed €28.3 billion annually in taxes, wages and capital spending; Paid 80% of all Irish corporation and Irish business taxes; Paid 50% of all Irish salary taxes (due to higher paying jobs), 50% of all Irish VAT, and 92% of all Irish customs and excise duties; Created 57% of private sector non–farm value–add: 40% of value–add in Irish services and 80% of value–add in Irish manufacturing; Made up 25 of the top 50 Irish companies (by 2017 turnover) (see Table 1). Multinational features The main features regarding foreign multinationals in Ireland are: They are almost exclusively U.S. U.S.–controlled multinationals are 25 of the top 50 firms in Ireland, and 70% of top 50 firm revenue (see Table 1). This includes U.S. multinationals that are legally headquartered in Ireland (e.g. Medtronic), but who are run from the U.S. (e.g. all senior executives and the main offices are in the U.S.). They are from countries with "worldwide tax" systems. Tax academics show that firms from "territorial tax" systems (over 95% of all countries), make little use of tax havens. The only non–U.S. foreign firms in the top 50 Irish firms are UK firms from pre–2009, after which the UK switched to a "territorial tax" system. In December 2017, the U.S. switched to a hybrid-"territorial tax" system. They are concentrated. The top–20 corporate taxpayers pay 50% of all Irish corporate taxes, while the top–10 pay 40% of all Irish corporate taxes. Post–leprechaun economics, Apple, Ireland's largest company by turnover (see Table 1), constitutes over one–quarter of Ireland's GDP. The top 10 U.S.–controlled multinationals comfortably account for over 50% of Irish 2017 GDP. They are mostly technology and life sciences. To use Ireland's main BEPS tools, a multinational needs to have intellectual property (or "IP"), which is then converted into intellectual capital and royalty payment plans, which shift profits from high–tax locations to Ireland. Most global IP is concentrated in the technology and life sciences industries (see Table 1). They use Ireland to shield all