As Ireland is now a net contributor to the EU - reducing its benefits might also lead to a reduction in its contribution - so a major question is how efficient and how equitable is the targeting of EU funding.  Certainly the management of infrastructural projects and public service provision leaves a lot to be desired - although it has been improving a little.

My guess is that the low corporate tax rates is the last thing the Government would touch - as it has been key to attracting mobile international investment and create growth and jobs (and widening the tax base).  The most likely scenario under the current Govt. would be a reduction/delay in investment, a reduction in public service provision, greater privatisation of service provision, and, as a last resort, the raising of indirect taxes - none of which is very progressive from a redistribution perspective.

You could make the case that Ireland's position as a small market on the periphery of Europe means that it needs to provide greater incentives for inward investment to overcome increased transport costs and lack of economies of scale.  Whether that is also in the interests of the larger more centrally located states is another matter entirely - I suspect not - but then the EU has evolved precisely to help resolve such conflicts of interest.

At least the EU investment in Ireland has been generally successful in raising average standards of living and now Ireland is starting to pay back some of that investment for use in Eastern Europe.   It would have been much worse had it created a society dependent on more and more handouts - as some economic conservative theorists would have predicted.

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