Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the three witnesses for their statement, which is a fair reflection of their success. There is no doubt about the IDA's success in bringing multinational companies into Ireland over a period of years. It is one of the stars of the semi-State firmament and I congratulate the witnesses on that. Ireland is proud of what they have done and the extraordinarily large household names they have brought in, and we have prospered thanks to it. We are not here today to examine that. Mr. O'Leary said these huge multinationals which have come in and give great employment and spin-off benefits pay €1.9 billion in corporation tax and account for 70% of corporation tax. Is that correct?