Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Commissioner Ansip. I thank him for his presence and for the work that he has done to date.

I wish to refer to his prepared remarks, in particular to his second statement that says "Ireland is digitally well advanced compared with the rest of Europe." I want him to know that such advancement is not by accident and is the result of a definite policy by successive Governments, with much of it set around attracting high-end ICT companies. We have worked in harmony with the education system to develop a tech-savvy society.

Yesterday, we had ten hours of discussion in the Parliament on the situation that has emerged from the decision by Commissioner Vestager to find against Ireland's tax law from a competition perspective. I do not expect Mr. Ansip to answer for the Commissioner, but it would be remiss of me not to raise the issue with him in light of his being the Vice President of the European Commission. I wish to share with him our frustration, annoyance and concern about what my party and others believe to be an overreach by the Commission in straying from competition policy into an area of taxation policy. Mr. Ansip is well aware that taxation policy is a competence of member states. It is not pooled or shared through any of the various instruments that we have agreed on over the life of the European Union. We vehemently disagree with the position taken by the competition Commissioner because we believe it has the capacity to impact on our ability, in the first instance, to determine and define our own policy on taxation. It is difficult for us, as a peripheral State in Europe, to attract foreign investment and the kind of tech-savvy companies that have allowed us to emerge, grow and compete with what might be considered mainland Europe. I want Mr. Ansip to take my comments and share them with his Commission colleagues in due course. I want him to recognise that it is the will of the Parliament of Ireland to vigorously defend its right to set its own tax policy. Obviously, that will happen now as a result of the decision taken by the Government to defend against the decision of the Commission.

I wish to comment on a matter that is more relevant to the brief of the Vice President, which follows on from the important point made by Deputy Stanley about the elimination of roaming charges. The European Commission has done good work on this matter. The measure has helped to establish and build on the freedoms that have already been established across Europe. It also helps to develop trade. In the past number of days I read in an article that the Commission has decided, or proposed, usage limits for free roaming. If that is the case then I think the measure would be a retrograde step. I ask Mr. Ansip to clarify the matter.