# Charlie McCreevy Back to [[Economic Freedom and Prosperity]] · [[Case Studies/Ireland]] **Role:** Irish Minister for Finance, 1997–2004 - Fianna Fáil politician (b. 1949) ◻; later EU Commissioner for the Internal Market (2004–10) ◻. - Under him the 12.5% corporate rate was phased in (fully from Jan 1, 2003, per the case study) and capital gains tax was halved to 20% (1998) ◻. - Critics link his pro-cyclical budgets and property tax breaks to the 2000s property bubble and the 2008 crash ◻⚠️. Key: ✔ confirmed this session · ◻ standard knowledge, not opened this session · ⚠️ unconfirmed.