An upwards shift in the Irish headline rate, possibly to the 15% rate or more mooted by the G7, would most likely be viewed negatively, and runs the risk of “appearing premature, and reflective of an incomplete understanding of the dynamics of the tax landscape over the coming years” says Maples & Calder’s William Fogarty in this month’s issue of the Irish Tax Monitor. The panel examines the implications, and the possibilities for Ireland to thread an optimal path, in the most likely drawn out OECD negotiations that lie ahead, against a background of complex and changing geo political factors, not least shifting priorities at global economic level, and in politics levels, not least in the United States, as pointed out, for example in Collette Kenny’s contribution (p.30).