Any move to increase the corporate tax rate would negatively impact on revenue rather than increase the tax take, according to leading tax experts.

Mark Redmond, chief executive of the Irish Taxation Institute, said any change to the rate would create uncertainty for multinationals which in turn would deter them from investing here, reducing the amount of taxable income. OECD studies have shown that for every 1% increase in corporation tax, foreign direct investment drops by 3.7%.

"It is critical, if we are to get back on track and repay the debts we are taking on now, that that rate remains in place. Any uncertainty in the rate could mean that we would lose out on big projects and those projects would go to countries outside of the EU," he said.

That view was echoed by PwC tax partner Feargal O'Rourke, who said it was likely that the IMF and ECB recognised the importance of Ireland's low-tax environment in generating growth.

"The problem here is at the ECB where there seems to be some political posturing going on by some countries who are not thinking about getting their money back and just want to stick it to Ireland. The mathematics of whatever extra revenue that it would bring in would be completely overwhelmed by the impact on behaviour and confidence in foreign direct investment. The impact on revenue would be negligible, if not negative," he said.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the number of PAYE workers claiming tax reliefs had trebled in the last five years, meaning the exchequer is collecting less in income taxes. Yet PAYE workers could still be missing out on hundreds of euro in tax credits and reliefs annually. Darren Byrne of Taxback.com said that a lack of awareness and "fear" of the Revenue Commissioners meant many people were avoiding their taxes rather than claiming their entitlements.