Mr. Brian Keegan:

It is to the great credit of this country that little people, generally speaking, do not pay tax and bigger people do pay tax. The Deputy heard testimony from the Revenue Commissioners to the extent that approximately 40% of corporation is paid by fewer than a dozen companies. That principle also extends to our income tax system where, effectively, 75% of all income tax is paid by about 25% of wage earners.

If a company of a sufficient size can operate in a multinational environment, going back to the point I made earlier that companies regard tax as a cost and will do what they can legitimately to manage that cost, it can put strategies in place that many of us cannot. American companies can put strategies in place that many European companies cannot because of a particular mismatch in the way tax is computed in both territories, but that is the world in which we find ourselves. I do not believe it necessarily falls based on this case.