Mr. Sorley McCaughey:

On the transparency agenda across Europe and Ireland's role in it, there is unquestionably a move towards greater transparency and demands on multinational companies to be more transparent in their activities and that can only be good. The more we know about companies, the more we can hold them to account. The more investors know about companies, the more they can make sound investments and not get a nasty surprise somewhere down the line. Ireland is playing a role which is slightly unclear. There is support for the principle of country by country reporting which requires companies to report on their activities in each of the jurisdictions in which they operate.

It is only then that one can see the full spectrum of their activities. They do not want that information to be publicly accessible. If we have learned anything over the past few years it is the important role that the media, civil society and other groups play as watchdogs over the activities of multinational companies. It is insufficient for only Revenue authorities or State bodies to have access to this information because we know, quite clearly, that it has not been enough. It is very important that the information is publicly accessible. What is being proposed at the moment, and to which Ireland is committed, is a form of country-by-country reporting that is private and that the information is shared on the basis of existing bilateral tax treaties. The latter will not benefit developing countries because they do not have bilateral tax treaties. Therefore, they will be unable to get the crucial information that allows hem to identify instances of illegal or dodgy practices by multinational companies. From the perspectives of a developing country, civil society and media it is essential that the information is made public.

The issue of transparency is connected to something that I wanted to raise as part of this discussion. I refer to the issue of establishing a body that would consider the issues of transparency, fairness, human rights as well as maintain Irish competitiveness and house that in some kind of State body along the lines of the NESC. The NESC has many of the functions of a body that could address many of these issues. The characteristics are as follows. An ability to commission research to address some of the data gaps that are missing from the activities of companies. An ability to advise the Government on what the reputational issues are of certain practices. What the legality of a matter is one thing. What is the reputational impact of certain tax practices is another matter. I would like the committee to consider where a body as outlined can be housed, what it might look like and what its functions might be.