Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have made most of my points so I will be brief. Some of us believe that we are talking about wrongdoing. However one defines it, aggressive tax avoidance by large multinationals is wrong. Whether or not it is illegal is of secondary interest to me and, I suspect, to the majority of people both here and abroad. People think it is morally wrong that corporations can make obscene profit levels and pay little or no tax, when ordinary people are screwed to the wall. That is why this is a very important issue for people. Some of us believe that addressing this issue is the key to dealing with the European and global economic crisis. Not everybody agrees with that but some of us happen to believe it.

This Government has defended a lot of its actions in recent times on the basis of safeguarding, improving and rehabilitating our international reputation. Both the Government and Fianna Fáil are opposing us on this matter but our international reputation has been seriously damaged by the allegation that we are operating as a tax haven to facilitate aggressive corporate tax avoidance by these multinationals. Our reputation is being further damaged by the refusal of this committee to even bring these guys in for questioning. We are on our knees before these people.

This is my last point. I wish to pass my condolences to Deputy Higgins on the death of his mother. However, if he were here I know he would say that this is an example of the dictatorship of the corporate markets. That is what it is and I do not think we should submit to that dictatorship. I know Deputy Higgins would say that if he were here.