Ms Brenda McVeigh:

The point I am trying to make is that Ireland will not be drafting the text of the FTT arrangements. We are not the ones saying this is what it should or should not be. We have a stamp duty in place and are happy to continue with it. In fact, it attracts a higher rate than what is envisaged under the FTT proposals. It is for the Commission to decide on a compromise text on which we can all agree. I come back to the point that there is no agreement among member states at this time, including the 11 which already have an FTT in place, and implementation dates have been missed because there is a general awareness that this does not work on a technical level.

When the Deputy talks about potential yield, he is doing so in the absence of any agreement on what level of tax will be applied, which transactions it will be applicable to or which institutions will be covered by the tax. The report produced by the ESRI in conjunction with the Confederation of British Industry, CBI, was done on the basis of the first draft of the FTT, but the situation has moved on since then. In fairness, the report itself makes clear that its projections were based on a series of unknowns. The authors sought to estimate potential outcomes and effects as best they could while fully acknowledging that they were operating in the unknown. Ultimately, the Commission will have the final say on the details.