The Government is preparing for a €10bn drop in corporation tax receipts next year amid fears of a slowdown in the tech sector, BusinessPlus.ie has learned.

The revelation comes as Twitter has begun laying off half of its 500 Irish-based staff as part of new owner Elon Musk's global cuts.

Meanwhile, Irish-owned payments company Stripe also said it is shedding 1,000 of its work force, while Facebook owner Meta, which employs around 3,000 people here, announced a hiring freeze, warning it may also have to reduce its head count.

The slowdown affecting tech giants has underlined fears over our reliance on corporation tax receipts. Currently, revenue from multinationals accounts for around €1 in every €4 collected by the State. And ten multinationals alone accounted for over half (53%) of Ireland's €15.3bn corporation tax income in 2021.

A Government source said public spending chiefs have planned for a €10bn decline from the expected €22bn income for 2023. They said: "There's an assumption there would be some slowdown in profitability of the sector, with a knock-on for the public finances."

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Fianna Fáil junior minister Niall Collins said the Government's plans have factored in that tax receipts from tech multinationals are "unsustainable".