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

I have a supplementary question. I am not convinced there is a special arrangement for particular companies in the manner reported in the media. Our taxation code has been designed in a way that allows for companies - I am not singling out any particular organisation - to avoid paying tax on profits. They are able to do so in a legal way. It is not that individual companies are being charged a lower rate but that they are able to fit into the code in such a way that it allows them not to pay.

In 1999, following a report by the Department of Finance, there was a closure of significant loopholes for Irish incorporated companies that were non-tax resident in this jurisdiction. There were serious questions in regard to a number of those companies, with some possibly being involved in criminal activity. I am not making those accusations; the information comes from a note by the Department. The 1999 changes dealt with part of this problem.

In that context, while I agree that tax evasion must be tackled at the global level, is it not also the case that loopholes can be closed on a state-by-state basis? Does Ms Feehily subscribe to the notion that a company incorporated in this State and non-tax resident in this jurisdiction which is also non-tax resident in any other country in the world should, by default, become tax resident here as a result of its incorporation? In other words, if a company wants to be non-tax resident and incorporated here, it would have to show that its management control is outside of this State. What I am proposing here is that there should be an additional clause such that a company must show it is tax resident in another country and, if not, the process of incorporation in this State would mean it is automatically tax resident here. That would close down a loophole for companies whose multiple billions of euro in profit are swilling in and out of coffers in this State.