Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I apologise but I had to be at something else and could not be here earlier. I would like to know what is the flaw with the BEPS process. Why can there not be some reconciliation between the two processes? The witnesses may criticise Ireland. However, the global investment competitors of Ireland and Europe may well be Singapore, Israel and other locations if we look at the very big IT and social media companies.

Another element which might be possible is a financial transactions tax or a variation on such a tax. This might address some of the issues Mr. Lamassoure has raised and would have a global reach. In a globalised economy, if one simply closes down in one region of the world, one may perhaps address just some of it. I just do not see the CCCTB. There is a lot of potential in respect of digital taxation. Does the committee have a feeling that the OECD process is not the mechanism? Going back to sovereignty, is the EU collectively sovereign? The OECD has global experience and instincts, which are very important as we are living in a globalised world. It is also important in terms of the employment capacity of these companies on a globalised basis.

Ireland has had a very difficult crash. All during that time, we continued to pay €600 million or so annually in overseas aid, mainly to countries in Africa, which is untied - not linked to military or other market contracts. That is something people do not appreciate in Europe sometimes. We do not have military industries in the way the Netherlands, France, the UK and all the other major European powers have. We probably do not spend enough on overseas aid but it is untied and it goes to some of the poorest countries in the world. We did that even in the context of an appalling financial crash and a rescue that cost our citizens quite a lot of money. I would like to hear a little bit of consideration towards the complexities in which Ireland finds itself as a non-colonial country that does not have a massive inherited capital base.

There is a reason that when Bono chose to minimise his tax, he chose the Netherlands. The Netherlands has a structure of countries to which it is related going back into its colonial history. The most efficient tax avoidance mechanism in the world is the City of London and its arrangements with former British dependencies and territories around the globe. I really welcome this discussion but I would like to open it out a little.