PRESIDENT MARY MCALEESE has received a boost in support from the Dutch finance minister for her stance on Ireland’s corporate tax rate.

The president is on an official visit to the Netherlands, where she was expected to announce to the country’s business leaders that Ireland will not be changing its rate.  She has previously criticised calls for a hike in the rate, saying the issue is “not up for negotiation”.

France and Germany are pushing for an increase in the tax rate, but president McAleese has called the demands “a nonsense”.

The Irish Times reports that the Dutch finance minister Jan Kees de Jager says that EU member states have a right to decide appropriate levels of taxation. De Jager says it is a “matter of national sovereignty ” for Ireland.

The Irish Independent quotes de Jager as saying:

It’s up to the Irish themselves whether they increase VAT, for example, or corporate income tax.

Speaking at a lunch in Amsterdam organised by the IDA, An Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland and Tourism Ireland, president McAleese didn’t refer directly to issue of the corporate tax rate, according to the Irish Times, but she did say that Ireland recognises the need for EU member states to work together to tackle the economic crisis. She also told Dutch business leaders last night that Ireland is facing up to its economic problems.