Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. I thank Ms McVeigh for her presentation on the FTT. The Government's approach to this is the right one maybe for the wrong reasons but its approach in terms of opposing the tax in the format being suggested is definitely the right one. Also, in her presentation she said that the Government believes that it is best that the EU budget is funded through own resources and not through a tax-raising measure. The idea of a financial transactions tax is one Sinn Féin supports. We have supported the concept of a financial transaction tax on a global basis or on a European-wide basis. We have supported the idea of a Tobin tax and this is where we differ from the Government in that we believe it should be focused on addressing poverty and inequality. I note Ms McVeigh said that traditionally Ireland has been opposed to the hypothecation of tax revenues, dedicating a part of revenue for a specific tax for a specific purpose. Many taxes are raised in this State for specific purposes. We have just had the introduction of the household tax which we are told is to be put into a local government fund. If the Government leads on the principle of having a tax that would be focused on addressing poverty and inequality, that would be fine and it is the right position to oppose enhanced co-operation. The idea that the Commission would have an independent stream of revenue to fund its own programmes is wrong. This country has a long tradition of being a champion in addressing poverty and inequality internationally but, unfortunately, in our State the statistics are getting worse for our own people. There is an onus on the Department to not only assess what other models are coming before the Commission or what other member states are saying but also to present its own proposal on this. I am conscious of the fact that the Europe-wide FTT is not on the table. I would be interested to hear what measures the Government is taking to steer a tax that would be acceptable to the Government. What proposals is it putting on the table other than only reacting to the proposals coming from the Commission or from other member states?

The Chairperson mentioned the possibility of an opt in and opt out to this proposal in terms of enhanced co-operation at a later stage and while I accept the fact that the FTT could be restructured depending on which members are included and that it could be decided to proceed with this, fundamental points have been outlined in terms of the Government's position, namely, that it is opposed to a non-EU-wide tax being levied and opposed to the Commission using this as a source of funding. I am not sure what kind of scenario could unfold that those two criteria could be satisfied. Ms McVeigh might outline to the committee the tests the Government might have in that respect and if those tests would measure any proposals The Government is taking the right position on this maybe for the wrong reasons but it is the right position. I would like the Government, even though it might not be successful, to lead on the idea of introducing a global financial transaction tax. Unless countries like ours make those demands, we allow others to steer the debate. Even if we are not successful at this time, hopefully some day we will get a consensus that a type of Tobin tax should be introduced to address issues around poverty and inequality and it is probably on that focus my party and the Government would disagree.