Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I must ask Mr. Carthy a hard question. I have read the paper he referred to on the common consolidated corporate tax base, CCCTB, and I agree with it. The paper calls for a harder and more effective CCCTB, in reality, and I am for that. I do not have any illusions about where the European Commission is coming from and that it is seriously interested in tackling tax evasion for the benefit of the public. It reflects the interests of the bigger states and it is trying to grab more tax revenue. In referring to the paper, Sinn Féin is trying to say it is left-sided opposition to the CCCTB but it is not. The points made by the witness relate to tax sovereignty, and fundamentally it is about sending a signal to businesses operating in this country. It is establishing the idea that although they may not agree with everything, Sinn Féin will be a safe pair of hands when it is in government. Does Mr. Carthy agree with the principle that we will not be able to deal with tax avoidance unless there is a common tax base? A common way of working out allocation of tax is required. We can argue about details and the way to effectively do that afterwards.