Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As I have made clear, I am not suggesting there was political interference. However, I do take issue with delegates continuing to refer to the independence of the Revenue Commissioners and the need to defend it without noting that the Moriarty tribunal found that there was political interference. Because of the level of that political interference the House was required to introduce legislation to make it a crime.

I ask the panel of delegates to comment on the fact that one of the largest accountancy firms in the State, KPMG, is advertising on its website as an "Irish headquartered company". It talks about the attraction of using Ireland as a global corporate headquarters. It cites a number of reasons, including that Ireland is a gateway to Europe; that it is a member of the eurozone; that it has an English-speaking, young, dynamic and well educated workforce; that it has a single financial services regulatory authority, a common law legal system and an attractive tax regime encompassing the rates of 0%, 12.5% and 25%, depending on the vehicle used. Why do we have one of the largest accountancy firms in the country telling global giants to locate here and stating there are vehicles by which they could reduce their tax liabilities to zero? Do the delegates think that is the type of member state tax regime we should have in place in this jurisdiction? I ask Mr. Clarken to comment first.