purposes of Brexit preparedness and increasing Ireland's "global footprint". Challenges The majority of foreign multinationals in Ireland are also concentrated in a small group of very large technology and life science firms. These firms have the "intellectual property" (or IP) needed to use Ireland's IP-based BEPS tax tools (which have effective Irish corporate tax rates of <3%). Ireland's largest company Apple, post their giant BEPS inversion in 2015 (see "leprechaun economics"), now represents circa 25% of Irish GDP. Because of Apple, the Central Bank of Ireland has had to replace Irish GDP with modified gross national income (or GNI*). As well as the beneficial use of Ireland's IP-based BEPS tax tools, and a relatively low corporation tax, there remain a range of other reasons for IDA Ireland's successes, including the English-speaking location to tap into European talent in the wake of Brexit, the highly skilled workforce, and 'clustering effect'. With the overhaul of the U.S. tax code under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and a switch to a "territorial" system, it has been shown the net effective tax rates in the U.S. and Ireland are now almost identical, even with the replacement single malt system still in place (see effect of TCJA on Ireland). There is a concern whether Ireland will suffer in such an environment, both in terms of keeping existing U.S. multinationals and attracting more. This is amplified by Ireland's mid-range competitiveness in most non-taxation related aspects; the country is usually positively cited for ease of doing business, but other aspects are seen as less successful (see, for example, the Global Competitiveness Report, where Ireland typically places in the 20th-25th world ranking range). Plans In 2015 the Irish government announced a five-year plan for the IDA aimed at accelerating economic recovery in the country, setting a target of 80,000 jobs by 2019 and investing €150 million in a regional property programme. This jobs target was reached in 2017. In its 2019 budget the Irish government allocated an additional €10 million to the property programme to promote regional development. See also State Agencies of the Republic of Ireland Enterprise Ireland Forfas IBEC Shannon Development Corporate haven Global Competitiveness Report Ireland as a tax haven The Lonely Battle of Thomas Reid References Further reading Rafferty, Colm (2012) Fuelled by foreign investment, Incisive Media Limited External links Enterprise Ireland Government agencies of the Republic of Ireland Economy of