Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

My next question is on the quantum. I know Professor McHale does not want to be pulled into policy issues such as whether we do things with USC. On the total quantum of revenue coming in, the comparative data I have seen suggests that if we just put aside PAYE versus whatever the basket of taxes are, by OECD levels we are a low-tax economy. We are materially below the average in terms of OECD levels if one uses it as percentage of GNP, GDP, or per capita. Without prejudice to what one would do with individual taxes, is it the case that if we look at Ireland's total quantum - the stuff we can bank on - and strip out the nonsense stuff that is due to foreign companies relocating their intellectual property, IP, here, is it the council's view that we are materially below the OECD average? Does Professor McHale believe it is prudent to erode the tax base in the upcoming budget, either through USC, PAYE, knowledge boxes or whatever it is? Does he believe that some of the €1 billion should be used for tax cuts or would he prefer to see the quantum left alone even if there were switches between different tax takes?