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

It speaks to a broader point about the extent of our reliance on multinationals for the driving of economic growth and about the nature of the activity that takes place here. We do not deny that real economic activity by multinationals in Ireland has resulted in significant job creation. I believe they account for approximately 7% of jobs. I have read some statistics relating to the files that are submitted by US corporations in America with regard to the profits they make in Ireland. I think they said last year that they made approximately $100 billion in Ireland. That is where they said they were located. David McWilliams has worked out that this equates to $1 million per employee. Although we think Irish workers are skilled and well-educated - they speak English and have many other attractive attributes - the statistics to which I refer do not seem to be real. We have spoken about our vulnerability because of our over-reliance on the multinational sector in general, but is there a broader point to be made about the fact that a large proportion of the profits that are said to be made here are not actually made here?