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

I thank Professor Barry for his interesting submission which got into the meat of this important issue. However, is he not understating the strategic importance of Ireland? Setting aside the tax issue, where else would Google and Facebook seriously go to access the European, north African and Middle Eastern markets other than an English-speaking country? It seems to me that they would not do so. Given the nature of their products, it is simply inconceivable that they would try to sell them from anywhere else other than Ireland, England or Scotland. That is the pattern of that particular type of investment.