Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Coffey and his colleagues. I compliment them on a very impactful report that is full of analysis and details. All the council's arguments have been comprehensively backed up.

I will start by discussing corporation tax, particularly as the Exchequer returns were announced yesterday. The Government has put forward the defence that Mr. Coffey, in a personal capacity, was commissioned by the Government to conduct a report in 2017. He said at that stage that the level of corporation tax receipts, with the step change in 2015, would be sustainable out to 2020. However, as one can see from the figures, we have had a few step changes since then. Does he still believe that the corporation tax receipts are sustainable?

The report is based on 2016 numbers and at that point we collected about €7.4 billion. This year we will probably break the €10 billion mark, as the profile for December is €600 million. The figure will be one third higher than the 2016 figures. Let us not forget that the assessment was based on 2016 figures. Can Mr. Coffey give us his perspective on the issue now? Is it his view or that of the council that corporation tax receipts are sustainable? To what extent is there a real risk to the Irish economy that we are, again, building up permanent expenditure commitments that will repeatedly recur on the back of receipts that could well prove to be temporary but we know to be volatile?