Irish foreign investment chief says almost certain firms will leave UK

DUBLIN, July 6 (Reuters) - It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) is almost certain that some companies will move out of Britain as a result of last month's vote to leave the European Union, the head of the Irish state agency competing to win foreign investment said on Wednesday.

While Ireland's economy is among the most vulnerable to the impact of Britain's decision to quit the bloc, the possibility that firms keen to stay in the EU could choose Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) as their new home has been identified as one potential upside.

"There has been a heightened level of activity in the past week-and-a-half post-Brexit. There will be newly mobile investment out of the UK, that's almost certain," IDA Ireland chief executive officer Martin Shannahan told a news conference.

Drawing investment from major multinationals such as Pfizer and Apple (LSE: 0R2V.L - news) has been a cornerstone of Irish economic policy for decades and is directly responsible for around 190,000 jobs or almost one in every 10 workers across the country.

Investments announced in the first half of the year will add another 9,100 jobs, IDA Ireland said, up a touch on the same period in 2015, which was a record year for foreign investment.

Shannahan said the level of additional opportunities arising from Brexit was impossible to identify but it would most likely occur in the first instance in international financial services, particularly in the funds industry, and in technology.

He also said that Britain's plans to cut corporation tax to less than 15 percent and closer to Ireland's ultra low 12.5 percent rate would not give their rival any advantage.

"Adjusting your corporation tax rate does not mitigate against uncertain access to the European market. One doesn't compensate for the other," Shannahan said.

"It isn't just about taxation, it's about everything else. As I listened to (British finance minister) George Osborne and (Bank of England Governor) Mark Carney making their respective speeches, I can tell you now I am much happier going out and selling Ireland over the next few weeks and months." (Reporting by Padraic Halpin)