Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The question asked by Deputy Michael McGrath was the yield and what we are handing up. I said it amounted to somewhere between €4.5 million and €5 million last year. The total amount of stamp duty on overall share transactions is €170 million so the amount of €4.5 million or €5 million out of €170 million is quite small. An American investor made the point to me that 60% of the new jobs created in the US economy, particularly in manufacturing, were in companies that had not been established at the start of the crisis. Start-ups and ensuring small businesses can ramp up quickly to become large businesses are the key features of what the US economy has become. Some 60% of all jobs created are coming from those new businesses. It is important we have the same entrepreneurial speed in ensuring small companies can become big quickly.

My good friend, Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett, raised the matter of the financial transaction tax. It is one element of the historic progress made during the Irish Presidency and came to pass while the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, was chair of the ECOFIN discussions. Commissioner Semeta, whose proposal it was to advance the financial transaction tax, has come to some difficulty with the ruling of the court in respect of the applicability of the financial transaction tax. It remains the case that we have a tax on share transactions. This applies not only to the profits to be made but also to the transaction in the first place. The amendment and the proposal should not be presented as a major derogation when it only applies to a tiny percentage of the €170 million, and is in contrast to the point made by Deputy Michael McGrath in respect of sums that yielded in excess of €600 million in 2007 and 2008. This is a means of encouraging investment in small and developing businesses that want to be listed on the fledgling stock market. The evidence from the US is that this is the kind of activity we must encourage. Many of the new businesses creating those jobs come and go quickly. It is a question of how nimbly one can get investment on the international money markets. This is a balanced and fair proposal.