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

When somebody invests €3 million in an industrial building in south County Dublin and the Minister says he needs to increase the rate of corporation tax to 14%, is he penalising after the fact, or is it the legitimate right of a Government to increase taxes at any point, given the circumstances of the time, on profits that will accrue from hereon? I know that the Minister is not suggesting this, but is that not, in effect, what he is doing? Is that not what we do all the time? How could it be illegal? We are not saying we want to tax all of the profits made up to now at a higher rate. In the Bill the Minister has a starting point of 18 June 2014. While that is the stated intention of the Government, the date set has no legal standing, apart from an expectation that something should happen. Until this Bill is passed and enacted, it does not have legal standing. It is only a Government promise and we know what happens to Government promises.