Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The point is one cannot get information on an individual's effective tax rate. Similarly, I do not seek the individual tax rate for Apple, Google, Microsoft or the company down the street producing goods or providing services. Instead, I seek an analysis of the effective tax rates. This can be done for income tax and it has been beneficial because when members discuss income taxes, they should be discussing effective tax rates. It does not really matter for many people whether their marginal rate is 52% if their effective rate is 30%, because that is what they care about. It is a question of how much of one's money is going to the taxman or woman and that is also what companies consider, namely, the effective rate, not the headline rate.

There is a way to do this and I have asked the Minister for information in this regard. I have asked, for example, for information on the top ten companies to avoid divulging any State secrets. I have been told that cannot be done. Instead, one could take the top 20 or 30 companies or whatever is the point at which no personal details are being revealed or where the details cannot be nitpicked, present them and look at the others afterwards. One should not be afraid of having an analysis in this regard because one could be 100% right or 100% wrong or perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle of all the arguments that have been made. As Mark Twain said repeatedly, there are three types of lies, namely, lies, damned lies and statistics. The problem is members do not even have the statistics. The Government has relied constantly on the ceramic pot manufacturer as the rationale for Ireland's 11.9% effective corporate tax rate but that has been exposed, as it simply does not make sense. It is a start-up company, it is not exporting and cannot carry forward losses because it is only in its first year of operations. It does not make any sense when compared with the companies with which members are discussing here, the top ten of which I understand pay 25% of all corporation tax raised in this State.

This amendment is not about challenging that state of affairs and if it is happening internationally, so be it, but what is wrong with having this discussion here? It is happening here in any event; it is just that it is not an informed discussion. It is a nonsense discussion because for the past year, members have been throwing arguments, accusations and all the rest backwards and forwards but they do not have the data. Consequently, a way should be found to provide those data that does not skew or benefit the Minister of State's argument, my argument, that of Deputy Boyd Barrett or of any other Deputy. Instead, the raw data should be provided in a way that can be presented to facilitate such a discussion. I believe the best way in which to do this is for the Government itself to commission such a report. If the Minister of State holds strongly that the effective tax rate in the State is 11.9% - I understand PwC issued a statement in the past two days stating it is 12.3% or thereabouts - and if he is convinced in that regard, were I in his position, I would be telephoning the printers and telling my officials to get that report completed to knock this myth on the head because the tax structure of the State is under attack. If this is the case, let us unveil and unmask the truths and lay them bare for all to see. Thereafter, were the European Commission to ask questions about Ireland's corporate tax structures, we would have nothing to hide. However, if it is not even possible to satisfy Deputies in respect of such information, how will it be possible to satisfy opponents who may wish to have a go at us because they wish to attract the type of investment the State has enjoyed heretofore? It is in the Minister's interest to do this.