Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Coffey using technical language to describe my general accusation against corporations as being tax evaders, but he is saying in a nice way that we need to examine this issue. I agree. The Comptroller and Auditor General has reported on it and Mr. Coffey has reinforced the point about the over-reliance on a small number of corporations and that we can only be sure of this income in the medium term. This is an accident waiting to happen and at some point there will be a glitch. The domination of a relatively small number of companies at a global level will not last. Historically, it has not lasted; therefore, that makes Ireland vulnerable. The need for us to develop the domestic economy and ensure a sustainable economic and industrial base is critical. I read a number of articles, possibly written by Mr. Coffey, which highlighted that the amount going into research and development was not being matched by investment. There are more tax breaks for research and development than investment generated, while the productivity figures again suggest a gross distortion because they are ridiculous. Even though Irish workers are productive and so on, they are not so productive that the mad productivity figures can be explained. They can only be explained by gross distortions consequent on companies distorting the figures. Is it not urgent to transition the economy away from this dependence and grab a little more of the tax revenue to invest in developing a sustainable economy?