Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I am very glad that is starting to be said. It is a major sea change and well past time that it should happen. I will be pleasantly surprised if real action to move matters in that direction which matches the rhetoric to that which we have been treated is forthcoming. Let us hope we are moving in a positive direction.

Members wanted representatives from the companies in question to come before the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform. However, there were obstacles to us questioning them about the detail of what was involved. The Minister has stated no additional tax will accrue to the State as a result of the adoption of this measure because the profits involved were not really generated here. I would like to drill down into this. One way to do so would be to talk to the companies in questions, but to date, we have not been allowed to do so. Another way would be to quiz the Minister about it, but I do not know whether he fully understands what is involved. My understanding was that the companies involved sold advertising from here all over the world and that they then paid for the use of software and patents to these shelf companies which were incorporated in this country but which were not liable for tax here. The selling was being done from Ireland. Is the distinction between profits generated in Ireland and those generated elsewhere but channelled through this country actually real? A company operating in Ireland can sell goods or services all over the place, but that does not mean that the sales it makes from here should not be subject to tax. Such a company might be selling goods or services to some other location, but there is not doubt that it is selling them from here. Companies of this sort avoid their tax liabilities using the moneys generated to pay royalties for the use of patents. There is a need to examine this matter in its entirety. We should not allow the companies involved to find new ways to avoid paying the taxes they should be paying.