Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I might come back on a future date to the national planning framework and investment in roads. I could not disagree more with Deputy Calleary on what our investment priorities might be. It would take too long to address it now.

I have two questions for the Department of Finance. The information I seek may be publicly available but I would just like to be given a sense of it. I found the information we got last year from the Tax Strategy Group very useful. It was based on very good, detailed analysis. We did not follow through on the diesel issue and dropped it like a political hot potato but there was still a useful outlining of the issue. Do we know at this stage what issues the Tax Strategy Group will be considering? Are we expecting a similar type of report in June or July? Are there issues that are due to be considered? What is the broader context within which tax strategy is decided? I recall from my time, in 2008 and 2009, the tax commission setting the wider perspective on our wanting to widen our tax base and generate tax efficiencies. The Tax Strategy Group seems to be doing useful work but is there a broader context within which the strategy is set?

The second question I have is on the latest tax figures. Is there any assessment from the Department of the ongoing exchanges on EU taxation rules on corporation tax, the common consolidated tax base, reporting and transparency in corporate tax auditing? Lord only knows what US President Mr. Donald Trump will do on the tax side. In its modelling of where we are going in regard to corporation tax, has the Department assessed whether the European changes will increase our corporation tax revenue, or are there risks on the other side given the American position? What is the modelling? How does the Department make its forecast, particularly on the European developments, which we know are happening and are real or in train?