Mr. Angel Gurría:

Ireland is on board with BEPS and with the automatic exchange of information. It has already received a few hundred million euro in unplanned extra revenue simply because the taxpayer reached the conclusion that his name would end up on the taxman's desk. People have asked: "Mr. Taxman, what could we do in a hypothetical case?" Taxmen all over the world have provided special windows to normalise. They do not want to put people in jail; they want people to pay taxes. We have provided that incentive and now everybody is on board. Some €85 billion in extra taxes were paid before we started the work. Now it is ongoing; we have started; the train has left the station. With BEPS, Ireland is on board and working actively.

Do I think Ireland is vulnerable? No, I think Ireland is being very successful in attracting the companies. It is very simple. Ireland has a set of rules by which it taxes the companies that operate here. That includes everyone who comes. Ireland applies the rule. The golden rule is: a company pays taxes where it generates the profits. It is that simple. We need to keep it like that. If the company generates them elsewhere, it pays elsewhere. If it generates them in Ireland, it pays in Ireland. Of course, there are also some intellectual property payments. It needs to be reasonable and companies should just pay taxes where they generate the profits. I would recommend keeping it like that and keeping it simple. It is a message that everybody understands. The tax reform in the United States is going in that direction.

The Senator is worried because there may be a tariff problem on steel, etc., and there is concern that it might bring about a trade war. However, basically the tax reform moves more in the direction of what the Senator is saying, rather than against it. I think we are generally moving in the right direction.

On property tax, what is the trend in the world? It is less tax on companies; less tax on labour; more tax on property; and more taxes on carbon emissions. There is more tax on consumption, such as VAT. This is the trend in the world. Not everybody is moving at the same speed and not everybody uses the same tax mix, but this is the mix. This means making it more attractive to make a new investment or to create a new job, rather than making it more expensive.

The Senator asked about Japan and its debt. Japan has 240% debt to GDP. The OECD average is 100%. Italy has 130% and Greece has 170%, moving to 180%. Ireland has 75%. Does that mean it has to use that other 25%? No way. It should keep it coming down. As I have said repeatedly, Ireland belongs to the Avis club.

Remember when one wanted to rent a car from Avis, the employee at the counter had a sign around his neck saying: "We are No. 2; we try harder". We have to try harder, those of us in countries which are in second place. That includes everybody, except the USA and perhaps Japan and Germany. The threshold of tolerance of rating agencies and banks is very low and we cannot make too many mistakes. It is not the absolute number, but the trend. Frankly, there is a good story here. Ireland has said it wants to go to 45% and the Taoiseach mentioned that if 15% infrastructure were added, that could go to 60%. That is more like an investment than just a debt and it is going to be recovered. Around those levels, one is safe but it should always be coming down because one may need it again for a rainy day. Rather than to put a lot of money in a rainy day fund, albeit that is a good idea, Ireland should pay down the debt to the greatest extent possible because that is its best umbrella.