Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The effective rate of tax reported for Ireland by PricewaterhouseCoopers is approximately 11.9%, which reflects tax breaks under the code. Many people who speak about the tax paid seek to apply Irish tax to earnings a company made elsewhere. This is not a proper way to calculate it. A company with operations in Ireland pays tax on its operations in Ireland. This is how the effective tax rate is calculated. Other people seek to bring in flows which have come from other countries. Even though our tax code does not apply to them, they seek to somehow apply the tax paid in Ireland not to the operating profits in Ireland but to this bigger number they have added in.