US tech executive denies Ireland is a tax haven

A US technology executive has rejected suggestions Ireland is merely seen as a tax haven for major American multinationals.

McAfee senior vice-president, Patty Hatter, who previously worked with AT&T and Cisco, ranks as one of the most powerful female executives in California’s Silicon Valley.

She insisted that the attractiveness of Ireland as a location for IT investments derives from the calibre of graduates, the workforce mindset, education sector quality and infrastructure investment.

The McAfee executive rejected the notion that Ireland is now only perceived in the US as a tax haven.

“Not that I have seen,” she told the Irish Independent.

Ms Hatter said that while tax rates and industrial supports can be a factor, they only come into consideration if a firm first believes it can deliver a profitable operation thanks to skilled staff and a good working environment.

“Ireland is very appealing. But it does come down to the people that are available and how that fits into the overall corporate culture,” she said

“We have been very excited by Ireland and we continue to invest here.

“We are very excited about the skills and the personnel we have here. That is why we continue to invest in Ireland and continue to grow.

“We just put our new security operations centre here so we have new security experts hired in and we will continue to build that.

“This is our central location for our Europe, Middle East and Africa geography. The office has been here for 10 years and it has significantly grown from where we started. Not just in size but in scale.”

Ms Hatter, was speaking as she attended a special ‘Women In Security’ (WISE) chapter event in Cork.

WISE aims to promote IT and security industry careers for women.

McAfee opened their Cork office in 2005 with just 40 staff.

The CityGate complex in Mahon now employs 350 people and was hailed by Ms Hatter as one of McAfee’s strategic centres.

“The companies that really excel going forward are the ones that are able to say, ok, we have been doing well but what are we going to do differently going forward? That is hard – especially if an organisation has been very successful.”

Intel has predicted 50 billion devices will be connected worldwide by 2019 – offering huge global opportunities but also carrying significant risks.

“The threat is always evolving,” she said.

The potential has already been realised by cyber-criminals.

The US Securities Commission confirmed that American firms reported a 42pc hike in successful cyber attacks.

Irish Independent