Mr. Niall Cody:

The largest proportion of the money is claimed by the large multinationals because they are carrying out the most research and development in value terms, but the credit is probably more valuable proportionally to Enterprise Ireland-supported companies. We can give the committee a breakdown of the analysis and develop the piece of the paper from our corporation tax receipts, if that would be useful. The issue must be considered in its context. The credit is probably of greater proportional benefit to a small company carrying out research and development than it is to larger companies.

We work closely with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland on improving the guidance that we issue and simplifying the process. We have recently issued a briefing on research and development tax credit claims of a value up to €50,000 and simplified procedures to deal with the type of small company that is carrying out research and development that is small in total terms but significant from the point of view of those companies' success.