John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The macro-economic outlook given in Professor Lane's opening statement is about whether the glass is half empty or half full. It is half full as far as I can see. For Professor Lane to use the phrase "buoyant domestic activity in a strong international economy", considering where we were not too long ago, is very positive. However, he tempers it. There is a balance with regard to what he sees as the dangers and risks. The issue that pops out at me is the shifting in international tax regimes. Tax regimes by their very nature evolve. We know about the measures we have seen in the past ten years when it comes to the US, transfer pricing or the efforts throughout the European Union and within the Commission to harmonise tax codes, etc. Is Professor Lane talking about something different, something else that is on the horizon? I will ask him again, although I am not asking him to be prescriptive, if there are things we are not doing in this House that we should be doing when it comes to what he sees as the dangers.