Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Many of us expected that the Irish Presidency would help to set the agenda in our own favour to some extent but it is clear that we are most definitely not setting the agenda. If countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands had anything like the level of debts or joblessness we have, we would hear about it and these items would be constantly on the agenda. I can write this out and send it to the Taoiseach. The three issues being debated next week are clearly important but in the overall scheme of things and certainly in countries like ours, they are lower on the pecking order. That will be seen when it comes to the European elections next year.

It is very important that we do not put our heads in the sand with regard to tax evasion and dismiss it as though it is something we are not in the spotlight for. It is no accident that this is being debated in both the US and the UK at the moment. We need to take a hard look at that. We are asking citizens to pay more and more. One cannot at the same time rationalise how even the effective rate of taxation is not being paid by many of these multinational companies. Some of them, not necessarily those in the spotlight, are located in my constituency and the jobs they provide are very welcome. We would be remiss to think that the only reason they locate in this country is because of the favourable tax rate. Robert Shapiro, who has been a special adviser to many US presidents, most recently President Obama, has spoken about Ireland's great attraction being the important public investments in education and infrastructure, particularly in technology, and the fact that Ireland is a stepping stone into the EU. Barry O'Leary, the CEO of the IDA, has spoken about how tax is just one element of attracting FDI and that if it was the only basis for investment, we would lose out to other countries.

We continue to deny ourselves the benefits of tax revenues that could provide science labs in schools which the Minister for Education and Skills has said he cannot fund. The 2012 OECD study on online digital literacy found that 62.9% of Irish school students using computers is a percentage significantly below the OECD average of 74.2%. The managing director of Microsoft noted that we are not doing enough to increase our technology capabilities. The income from companies such as Microsoft is needed to increase our capabilities in this regard considering the limited base for raising further revenue from very hard-pressed taxpayers.

We need to have a mature debate about what we need from the multinational sector in order to provide both indigenous and further multinational companies with the throughput of suitably qualified workers for the jobs that are advertised outside the country because of the lack of suitably qualified candidates here.

Europe needs to become energy-efficient through the use of renewable energy. I refer to countries whose natural assets make them best placed to provide energy from natural resources, including solar energy in Spain and Portugal and wind and wave energy in Ireland, Scotland and Norway. However, there does not appear to be targeted investment in countries with high levels of unemployment and debt who do not have the funding which would deliver a return on the very thing that will be debated at the weekend.

I find it very disconcerting when making my contribution that no attention is being paid by those opposite.

My final point is about the ongoing debate about European monetary union. In my view, we are being walked into a political union even though we may want to be involved in a deeper political union. However, the treaty to be put to the Irish people will be a fait accompli. They will not have any input into the process which will be agreed behind closed doors. That is a very dangerous situation. It has been the case in the past that the Irish people have been forced to have a second vote on European treaties. We need to have a better understanding and a better public engagement on the implications of a deeper monetary union. We are being moved towards a situation in which we may not wish to participate.

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