Full coverage: Paschal Donohoe

If a state of high dudgeon can be reached in the current circumstances, how will the political parties cope when high-grade manure drops from the sky without warning as inevitably it will?

Having delivered Budget 2023, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe speaks candidly about his time in office – from achievements to regrets. He also talks about the specifics of the budget, the future of taxation, and governing in a time of crises.

The Minister for Finance heads to an EU meeting in Prague hopeful of a 15% corporation tax directive, but the full OECD agreement is far from ready for implementation.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe could be re-elected unopposed to the highly prized European role. But his candidacy could be jeopardised by a cabinet reshuffle. Given the influence the post brings, the Government must come up with a solution – and fast.

The US Treasury Secretary visited Dublin on Monday as her country entered the final stretch of a fraught congressional budget debate. Upcoming American legislation implementing the OECD-led global tax agreement is the piece of the puzzle with the most direct impact on multinationals operating in Ireland.

Ireland is signing up to a global agreement that no large multinational should pay less than 15% in corporation tax anywhere. The structures used by firms here show that the calculation of the exact profit taxable at this rate matters a lot more than the headline figure.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, his European Commission counterpart Paolo Gentiloni and Ireland's accountancy bodies agree on one thing: the future of multinational taxation has yet to be decided in Washington. The worst-case scenario for Ireland would be to sign up to the latest OECD proposals, only to see them thwarted by partisan strife in the US.

As the Irish government invites the business community to take part in the debate on multinational tax reform, we ask Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and OECD tax chief Pascal Saint-Amans what is coming next.

Ed Brophy has served as chief of staff to a tánaiste and chief advisor to a finance minister. Having just stepped away from politics, he reflects on the intersection of power and policy, and the crises that defined the decade: the bailout, Brexit and Covid.

Since Tuesday, we have heard from the European Commission on its corporate taxation plans for the next three years, Washington has laid down its cards for OECD-led talks on the issue, a visiting French minister and US multinationals have chimed in, and Paschal Donohoe spoke on the issue not once but twice. So, what have we learned?