Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have touched on an interesting point in the amendment. I ask the Minister to specify what he means by a company on Report Stage, because there are various forms of company. For example, one can have a company limited by the amount of paid up capital or one limited by guarantee. Many voluntary organisations have companies and people put their name to them. Could the Minister specify the nature of the company intended? More to the point, in the event of the holder already being a company or one formed in another jurisdiction, I signal my intention to table a Report Stage amendment on the section to the effect that the holder of the licence would be resident for tax purposes in this country. We do not want to see a situation whereby the profits from the national lottery would be in Jamaica or other such country, for example, in a tax haven.

We have seen reports in recent days that the company the Revenue has employed to handle the call charges for people on the property tax has moved its tax affairs and is not tax resident in this country. The company is making a profit. I also understand the company was connected with one handling the calls for the third level grants administered by SUSI. The parent company of those companies is not resident in this country for tax purposes. It would be galling if the profit of the operator or licence holder was not to pay income tax or corporation tax in this country. The Minister might say the licence is subject to international competition. At a minimum the licence holding company must be resident in this country. Perhaps the Minister will tell me there is some reason that cannot be done within the EU or within a country with which we have a double-taxation agreement.

However, we cannot have a situation where the holding company for the company running the Irish lottery, which is located on an island in the South Pacific, is not obliged to pay any corporation tax on the profits it makes on the lottery in Ireland by virtue of it being in a foreign tax haven. I would welcome the Minister's views on that. I will raise the matter again on Report Stage.