A refusal by the British government to reduce corporation tax in Northern Ireland to the same 12.5 per cent level as in the Republic would slow down economic growth in the North but not wreck the economy, DUP Finance Minister Peter Robinson told the Assembly yesterday.
The North's First Minister, the Rev Ian Paisley, together with the Northern Executive and much of the Northern Ireland business community, has urged the British government to reduce corporation tax levels to help boost the Northern economy as it emerges from years of conflict and political strife.
In mid-October Sir David Varney is due to adjudicate on whether the North should have a special corporation tax different to the rest of the UK, where the rate is 28 per cent. A rate change for the North could trigger difficulties for the British government, particularly in prime minister Gordon Brown's native Scotland.
Proponents of the all-island corporation tax system have argued that such a concession is justifiable given that Northern Ireland's economy was so damaged over almost 30 years of the Troubles.
Mr Robinson said he hoped Sir David would "give Northern Ireland a new fiscal instrument that would give it the step change it needs in terms of getting real economic growth and prosperity". He added, however, that in the absence of this concession the Northern economy would not be left "floundering".
Without a 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate, economic growth and prosperity would be much slower and down to the "skill and ingenuity" of the Executive, he said.
"If we can get the step change in terms of getting a proper fiscal instrument that meets the requirements of Northern Ireland in these circumstances I believe that you will see a very expeditious change in the economic growth and prosperity in Northern Ireland. If that instrument is not given then it will be up to the skill and ingenuity of the Executive and officials to put in place what measures we can within our own scope but it means that it will take a much longer period of time for us to get to the same level of economic growth and prosperity," he said.
Meanwhile, SDLP Assembly member John Dallat suggested that a painting of a pope blessing King William as he marched to battle at the Boyne should be displayed to "intrigue" visitors to Stormont.
Mr Dallat said the painting, believed to be by Pieter van der Meulen, King William's Dutch court artist, showed Pope Innocent "hovering" behind the king as he marched to the Boyne in 1690, providing his papal blessing in his battle against the Catholic King James.
The painting was vandalised by Scottish visitors the last time it was displayed at Stormont. Mr Dallat felt the time was now favourable to again show what for many might seem a historically puzzling painting. "It would intrigue visitors and certainly put another slant on our previous beleaguered history," he said.
