Ambassador Foley Addresses Irish Taxation Institute

Irish Taxation Institute Chief Executive, Mark Redmond, U.S. Ambassador, Thomas C Foley and Irish Taxation Institute President, Joan O'Connor

Ambassador Foley addressed a meeting of the Irish Taxation Institute on November 5th last. One of Mr. Foley’s main goals while Ambassador, is to encourage Ireland to develop a philanthropic model. He hopes that the U.S. model can serve as a reservoir of experience and “lessons learned” from which Ireland can borrow in developing its own model. The Ambassador feels that now is the perfect opportunity to devise and implement a philanthropic model for the future, due to the accumulation of private wealth in Ireland. Mr. Foley believes the foundations are already present, as Ireland has long been identified for its generosity.


Ambassador Foley said that private philanthropy in the U.S. has been extremely successful. Its support for education, cultural and charitable

Joan O'Connor, Ambassador Foley and Mark Redmond

organizations has long surpassed that of the U.S. government. Americans privately donate 2.1 per cent of GNP, or more than $275 billion annually, to non-profit organizations. This exceeds the amount of private or government giving from any other country both in absolute money and as a percentage of GNP. The Ambassador believes that the key to encouraging wealthy people to donate, is to change the Irish tax policy and remove the cap which limits tax relief in relation to sizeable donations.

In an effort to promote philanthropy in Ireland, Ambassador Foley will be hosting an event at his residence in February, inviting Irish organizations as well as American philanthropists to discuss and share ideas on how best Ireland can approach a philanthropic model.