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

Ms O'Brien made that point very well already. If I were to translate the technical language she uses into layman's language, is she not stating that we are submitting to blackmail out of fear that companies will leg it if we try to force them to make a slightly greater contribution to the economy? Is that not really what is taking place? Is it not the case that if one submits in this way, one becomes part of a race to the bottom? Ms O'Brien has acknowledged the statement made by Deputy Michael McGrath, who, unlike me, is a great supporter of our corporate tax regime, that investment is already beginning to migrate elsewhere because other locations are joining the race to the bottom to generate revenue from corporations. Even if we bend our knees and submit to the multinational companies, as Ireland has done, these companies will still move elsewhere because everyone else will join the race and bend their knees even further. Is that not what is happening?