The Taoiseach has come under fire in the US over the Irish corporate tax rate. The Governor of California Jerry Brown criticised Enda Kenny and Irish law over the system, making reference to tax payments by Apple in Ireland.

The comments came at an Enterprise Ireland event in San Francisco on Friday, which was being held to celebrate Irish-American links and Irish entrepreneurs who have travelled to the West coast of America.

National Correspondent with the LA Times, Robin Abcarian, told Newstalk Breakfast that the comments were really made in jest.

The Irish corporate tax regime came under criticism from the United States last year, which believes American companies are exploiting Irish law to avoid paying tax in America.

The Apple CEO Tim Cook has previously insisted that the company has no special 2% tax rate here.

Ireland was labelled a tax haven by observers after Mr. Cook appeared before a US Senate hearing in 2013. A US Senate report said the iPhone maker avoided paying tax by setting up companies in Ireland which paid little or no tax on sales of the company's products outside America.

The report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said Apple had agreed tax a rate of just 2% with the Irish government. That is well below the corporation tax rate of 12.5%.

However, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has insisted that Ireland is not a tax haven.

An expert from the body told the Oireachtas Finance Committee previously that Ireland is not on its list of countries which allow deliberate tax-dodging.