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

I asked last year that this committee investigate and holding hearings on these matters. This was prior to the availability of the Seanad report. Since then, we have had formal preliminary investigations into Ireland's sweetheart deals with multinational corporations, which in time will be proved or disproved. This boils down to something Professor Barry said earlier. Professor Barry, along with the Minister for Finance and everybody in this room, knows that there are companies incorporated in this State that are non-tax-resident here or anywhere else in the world. One such company is Apple. There are many other such companies. The Department of Finance does not know how many such companies exist but we do know there are a number of them. These companies do not pay tax anywhere in the world. I have suggested that there is a way to deal with this. The fact that they are not tax-resident anywhere else in the world but are incorporated here means they should be automatically deemed tax resident here. This is allowed. It is what we did in 1999 with other companies.

Professor Barry said we need to be careful. He and the Government have stated that it is not Ireland that is the problem; rather, it is an anomaly in the tax code in America, which is true. However, there are two tax codes involved. It takes two to tango. It is Ireland's tax code and the American tax code. Professor Barry stated that he does not believe the Americans will change their tax code. He is probably correct in that regard. However, Ireland does have the ability to deal with this on its own. We can change our tax code. It must first be acknowledged that Ireland can deal with this. It can deem a non-tax-resident company incorporated in Ireland liable for tax here. The question that arises is whether we should we do this and whether we want to do it.

On the question of whether Ireland is a tax haven, setting aside the OECD criteria, which do not really exist, in people's minds it is a tax haven. If we acknowledge that we can change the rules to allow Apple Operations International, AOI, to pay taxes in Ireland because it does not employ anybody here or does not pay taxes anywhere else in the world but we decide not to do so, then what we are doing is allowing multinational companies to locate here and use Ireland to avoid paying taxes. That is the reason people believe, rightly or wrongly, that Ireland is a tax haven. Most companies on the high street pay their taxes. They cannot access the consultants who have access to the Minister for Finance or his officials to write the tax code for them. They pay their 12.5% taxes. The question is, can we do something about this? Professor Barry stated earlier that America could change this situation overnight. Ireland also could change the position in relation to the company mentioned overnight. If we do not change this overnight, which I know we have the power to do, are we facilitating tax avoidance on a grand scale in our tax code?