Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Aindrias Moynihan would like to take this slot and Deputy Boyd Barrett would like to wait until the end. Technically it is Deputy Canney's turn and Deputy Doherty is going to come back but, in the meantime, I will take the opportunity to ask some questions myself.

Going back to the issue of corporation tax and how it interacts with research and development, I would like to revisit the interplay between our rate and the US rate. Mr. Coffey has said that companies write down research and development spending against a tax rate that was 35% and which is now 21%. Ireland had an effective deduction of 37% rather than 12.5%. Am I correct that the difference between the 35% and 37% was marginal and that, although it made it worthwhile, it was not a great difference but that the newer 21% rate makes the differential significant?