Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Our tax system is very transparent. I do not wish us to have an argument about it but I will explain the 2% rate. This is international tax planning which works on the basis of people looking at two different tax jurisdictions and finding a gap in which they can take an advantage. It is not to do with the Irish tax code which is completely transparent. On profits generated in Ireland and on profits liable to tax in Ireland, the 12.5% rate applies universally. The central point established by the sub-committee is that the principal Apple companies concerned which are registered in Cork are neither tax-resident in the US nor tax-resident in Ireland. Maybe there was a magician but the magician was not living down in Cork.

Because they are not tax-resident in Ireland they are not liable to Irish tax. They are not liable to Irish tax - neither under Irish law nor international law. They are not resident in Ireland because they are not managed and controlled here. They are not resident in the US because they were not incorporated or organised there. Notwithstanding this, the central point is that the committee proceeded to speak of an Irish special tax rate of 2% or less, as if the companies concerned were, in fact, Irish tax-resident, which they are not. The 2% and lower rates which were claimed are got by dividing the tax charged on branches in Ireland by the entire profit of the companies concerned.