Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending.

This is quite a complex proposal. I do not doubt there is not a politician across Europe who will have questions about the modalities of the Commission’s proposals.

One point the Commission raised with the committee concerned the treatment of research and development. It stated the 2011 proposal for full deductibility of research and development costs was a one-off. There was no capitalisation depreciation of research and development over several years. This regime had been retained under the relaunched proposals with the exception of immovable property. What is the immovable property element? Over the past several years, this country has focused on the knowledge box and the research and development tax credit. There is an 80:20 split between the domestic and foreign direct investment sectors. What would be the effect of the Commission’s proposals on domestic companies?