Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am going to ask the question when I have had the opportunity to lay out the tray.

A recent Harvard advanced management programme was addressed by top-tier people including myself, Mr. Barry O’Leary from the IDA, Mr. John Herlihy from Google, and Mr. Austin Hughes from KBC Bank.

I made my short presentation honestly and there were no holds barred, no holds that I was afraid to go into. In the questions and answers afterwards, I raised corporation tax. I raised it also with the European senior management of Wells Fargo, which is probably the strongest bank in the world because it was the most conservative in the past ten years. I asked would it blink if corporation tax was raised from 12.5% to 15% for ten years and was told, "Not at all." We have frightened ourselves with false prophecies.