Mr. Mark Redmond:

The Chamber is very grateful for the opportunity to meet with the committee today. The American Chamber of Commerce Ireland is an Irish non-partisan, membership organisation. Our membership consists of the Irish operations of US multinational companies and Irish companies with operations in the United States of America, USA. We are a completely independent stand alone organisation resourced by our membership in Ireland. Our role is to be the voice of our total membership and not that of any individual member company. Our advocacy work focusses on issues relevant to the wide spectrum of our membership and not on individual companies. We do not advocate for individual companies nor do we make public comment on them. Our vision is that Ireland will remain the global location of choice for US business investment.

In his letter of invitation the Chairman asked us to engage with the committee on the EU state aid investigation into alleged tax preferential rulings and the wider issue of corporation tax in a global context. The invitation is timely. We are concerned that these issues can be used to paint a highly inaccurate picture of the nature of US business investment in Ireland. In the current climate, with challenges including Brexit, and a changing world order for global trade, it is vitally important that every opportunity is taken to put on the record the real nature of this investment and how it has been to the benefit of Ireland and the United States.

On the role played by corporation tax policy, I need not make any specific comment on open legal proceedings regarding the EU Commission ruling on the Revenue Commissioners' interactions with Apple and the allegation of preferential state aid. I would like, however, to make the following points. The chamber fully supports the Government's decision to appeal the EU Commission's ruling. The chamber believes that Ireland's membership of the European Union has been central to our country's social and economic development and critically important in retaining existing, and attracting future, US inward investment. The EU and the US are the world's largest trading partners. We believe that every effort should be made to ensure the EU remains a location where US business can continue to invest with certainty. That is why we believe Ireland or any other EU member state simply cannot afford to have its tax policy and administration second guessed in a retrospective fashion. Businesses cannot make investment decisions in such an environment.

Ireland is fortunate in having a robust and independent revenue authority that is recognised as operating to the highest international standards. It implements a rules-based tax code legislated for in a transparent manner by the Oireachtas. Any attempt to undermine the independence of our revenue authority and second guess how it does its work must be challenged. Any attempt to undermine the necessary process for taxpayers, including those in business, to seek clarification from the revenue authority of the application of the law to their circumstances must be challenged as a retrograde step that undermines the global move by all leading revenue authorities to a cooperative compliance model.

The suggestion from an EU Commission spokesperson that "if you want legal certainty, then you need a Commission decision" does not help the case for investing in the European Union. Why do we believe this issue is so fundamentally important to Ireland? There are 150,000 compelling reasons, because that is the number of highly talented people who are working for US companies across Ireland, from Wexford to Ringaskiddy to Shannon to Letterkenny. Their jobs support a further 100,000 indirect jobs countrywide. Anybody who has visited these company locations cannot but be impressed by the passion and innovation of this talented workforce and the pride it takes in what it does. That pride is truly justified, because they are producing products and services at the cutting edge of global technologies that are saving lives and enhancing how people work and live around the world. Commentary about the nature of US business investment in Ireland and its substance is not credible if it does not reflect the contribution and performance of these people.

Four of every five medical stents used around the world are created in Ireland. One out of every two hospital ventilators used globally to sustain life are created in Ireland and one out of every three sets of contact lenses used globally are created here. As we are serving a global market we have created a global talent pool that has enriched our country, our respect for every individual and our respect for diversity and inclusion. It is remarkable that a country that for so many decades saw its people forced to emigrate as economic refugees is now a place where people from all over the world wish to come to live and build their careers. It is worth noting that nearly all the Irish operations of US companies here are led by Irish men and women, many of whom go on to global roles with their companies. They are building a culture that is informed by, among other things, a commitment to their communities. The Irish operations of US companies support the donation by their people of over 600,000 volunteer hours to over 7,000 community projects throughout Ireland each year.

It is also important to put on the record that the economic relationship between Ireland and the United States is very much a two-way relationship. Investing in Ireland has been good for US business and for the US economy. Over 200 Irish companies have created jobs at over 2,600 locations in all 50 US states and they generate US sales of $90 billion annually. The US leaders of the companies that have Irish operations consistently state how their Irish operations have been critical to their global success. These companies are called multinationals because they serve multinational markets and they must have operations in those major markets, not least the European Union.

While it is not the only reason for our success, Ireland's competitive corporation tax policy is a very important one. It was established six decades ago, before the establishment of the forerunner to the European Union, and it has been implemented consistently since its introduction. On its introduction Ireland was a poor isolated country on the periphery of Europe. Visionaries such as the late T. K. Whitaker realised that if we had any hope of sustaining a living standard for future generations we would have to attract inward investment and we would have to export. To do this we cast aside failed policies of isolationism and introduced pro-enterprise policies such as low corporate tax rates. The reason this policy has worked is that it is implemented with transparency and certainty.

There is a widespread consensus that the basis for taxing the international operations of multinational companies has not kept pace with the evolution of the global economy, the emergence of new industries and business transformation. In some cases, global tax protocols were almost 100 years out of date and there has been an understandable public frustration surrounding the operation of the international tax code. The need to bring matters up to date gave rise to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, initiative. Ireland has been a central participant in this initiative. In her evidence to the committee last week, Commissioner Vestager said: "... one aspect I very much admire, is the fact that Ireland is very much leading when it comes to the implementation of the OECD work to make a more global tax community". Not only is Ireland's taxation regime competitive, by any global standard it is also highly transparent and consistent. Ireland has taxation agreements with 72 other countries and has over 20 information exchange agreements. These information exchange agreements provide for the cross-border sharing of information, ensuring greater levels of international tax compliance.

In conclusion, Ireland has transformed its economy due to key pillars, including the certainty, transparency and universal applicability to all companies of its tax code. That certainty has helped Ireland compete and that track record has created an investment relationship with the United States that is remarkably resilient. For example, in the five very tough years for our country from 2008 to 2012, US business investment here exceeded that of the previous 60 years. This is down to our hard-earned reputation for certainty and to the innovation and talent of our people. In the current very competitive and challenging global environment for inward investment, it is vital that we protect and defend this hard-earned reputation.