Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I have a question on the general corporation tax head. There has been a gross distortion of the growth figures because of what we believe is probably the relocation of intellectual property assets by Apple. Mr. Coffey outlined the figures in question relating to deductions on the part of Apple and a few other companies. The figures jumped massively from 2007 onwards and were part of what I believe is a tax avoidance apparatus. As far as I know, the figures we have go up to 2014 but is there any way of us knowing what is now happening in that area? Could we have a more detailed understanding of it? We have spoken about potential volatility in this area so it would help us make a judgment if we actually had the information. We do not have an up-to-date picture of the figures on corporate tax, on income, on profits and allowed deductions or allowable tax write-offs. Does Mr. Coffey think that is a problem? I certainly think it is a problem. There has been much talk about closing off the double Irish but do we actually know that the double Irish has been closed off? These companies can still avail of it and have done so in the past couple of years.