Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I will move on. In terms of the financial transaction tax, FTT, am I correct in quoting the Minister as saying the Government decided not to go along with it on strong advice from the industry? Does that mean the Minister literally asked the IFSC and the Clearing House Group if they thought we should introduce the financial transaction tax, and they said "no", that it would be a bad idea? Does the Minister think he could ask any industry, in this country or anywhere else, if they would like to pay more tax and if they thought that would be a good idea? What answer does the Minister think he would get? He did not apply a similar test to the water charges, by asking people if they would like to pay them, because the answer he would get would clearly be "no". Further to the question Deputy McGrath asked, what is the basis in actual research upon which the Minister has decided the Government should not participate in the FTT, even if the UK is not participating?