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

In my opinion we need to examine the position with regard to corporate tax because this country is in a dire state and desperately needs revenue. People who bear no responsibility whatsoever for the current economic crisis are being crucified to the point where it is unbearable. At the same time there is significant evidence that enormously profitable corporations are paying nothing or next to nothing as a contribution to the states and societies which host and facilitate them. We need to address that and discover whether we can rebalance matters in a fair way so that those who have a lot will pay more and those who have nothing or close to nothing will obtain some relief. I am of the view that this is why we are considering the matter before us.

The moral-relativist argument put forward by Professor Barry to the effect that it is all very ironic that the Americans or the EU should point the finger at us simply misses the point. I take it as read that politicians in America engage in grandstanding and that they are hypocritical, deceitful and cover up what is happening in their own country. However, that does not in any way answer the more substantial question about whether our tax regime is fair and just. Neither does it indicate whether that regime facilitates aggressive tax avoidance on the part of multinational corporations. If there has been a shifting of position by Senators Levin and McCain in the US, this may largely be explained as being opportunism and grandstanding on their part. There is, however, a much more fundamental reason for the shift to which I refer, namely, that they are being forced to address this question. This arises because ordinary American people and their counterparts in other countries are - faced with the global economic crisis - examining these things and demanding answers in respect of them. Whether they are American, European or Irish citizens, they are asking "How the hell is it that we are being screwed to the wall when these corporations are making billions and, apparently, paying no tax?" Is that question not the starting point for a serious discussion rather than pointing to hypocrisy on the part of American politicians?