Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Although the Commission's inquiries might be quite normal, the fact that they were reported in the media throughout the world has attracted publicity for Ireland and put the spotlight on our arrangements with multinational companies. It has in a sense put a question mark over the legitimacy of Ireland's corporation tax regime. I expect the Government and the authorities to put pressure on the European Commission to conclude the matter as quickly as possible. While we want it to be thorough, we also want to know as quickly as possible whether a full-scale inquiry will be undertaken or whether it does not intend to proceed any further.

Although I fully accept what Revenue has said today and in the past that no special deals are done with individual companies, I want to tease out that issue a little. I assume that when the IDA is trying to attract, for example, a large multinational client into Ireland, corporation tax is a key consideration for that company. Is it normal for a company to provide a pro forma of its proposed corporation tax structure and for that to be given to the Revenue for approval before the company makes a decision on whether to invest in Ireland? I assume that Revenue does not always react to events but looks at such proposed structures and gives its opinion and advice even before a company comes to Ireland.