Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to tease out the argument about economic reality or the lack of such a reality in terms of the figures. If I understood her correctly, the Commissioner seemed to be saying that the figures did not have economic reality or that there were no employees, transactions or manufacturing activity. Moreover she seemed to say that moneys relating to other jurisdictions are flowing through Ireland. If there is no economic reality to the original figures, why do we have economic reality relating to the tax involved? If we take the position that the activity does not belong to Ireland, why is the Commissioner suggesting that the tax ends up belonging to Ireland? Let us suppose an Apple product is made in China and sold in Singapore. Perhaps it was booked through Ireland without any great activity here. It appears that we are now saying that the tax is due in Ireland, or that it is at least potentially due to be collected in Ireland. We have heard the argument from Deputy Pearse Doherty about how it may be subsequently sought by other countries. Will the Commissioner expand on the economic reality argument, please?