Dr. Kieran McQuinn:

On the moral issue, what we observed last year, particularly in quarter 2, was quite remarkable. We all expected to see very adverse numbers, as far as economic performance was concerned, until we saw the trade figures and those for the export sector. In particular, some of the multinational sectors such as the pharmaceutical sector enjoyed significant increases in export levels. That caused our GDP figures to be positive for the year, which was quite remarkable when compared with other countries.

As for whether there is a moral imperative for those firms, it would be very difficult to implement such policies. Our general concern in regard to taxation is that at the moment, the economy is still in a fragile state. We expect it to emerge from that and to recover strongly, but it is still in a fragile state. Even to try to impose higher taxes, similar to the UK for example, significant risks are associated with that. It could slow down the recovery we are expecting. I would be-----