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

I would like clarification on the rationale for this. If I remember the budget speech, it was to the effect that the Minister wanted to mitigate the impact of the changes arising from the OECD BEPS process and the increase in the nominal rate of corporate tax from 12.5% to 15%. I find it extraordinary that the Government dug in against any increases on 12.5% for years despite the super-profits being made. Profits are increasing exponentially for these corporations, and the effective rate is far lower than the Government is saying. There is an argument for some marginal improvement in the situation, which the Government grudgingly gives in to by raising the nominal rate from 12.5% to 15%, and then it finds a way around it by increasing the research and development tax credit, which will benefit the same small number of multinationals that make profits beyond the imagination of most human beings. Rather than making them pay a little more, the Government has sought - and explicitly stated, it seems - a way to ensure that they do not have to pay more.

What I find particularly incredible is that this is done in the name of research and development. At the same time, the Government spins this further tax giveaway on the grounds of research and development, the people who do research and development, that is, postgraduate researchers, have been marching and protesting outside Dáil Éireann, pointing out that they earn less than the minimum wage. What did the 10,000 PhD and postgraduate research workers without whom our universities would not function and would have research and development get? The vast majority got absolutely nothing. There was no additional budget allocation for them, even though commitments were made that a small group of them would get a small increase amounting to far less than they had asked for. Those were only the ones in receipt of stipends from Science Foundation Ireland and one of the other bodies. The vast majority of PhD researchers were getting zero in a situation where they earn less than the minimum wage. Some are getting nothing at all; others have to exist on about €9,000 per year. Then the Government wants to give another €27 million in funding that will overwhelmingly go to a tiny group of super-profitable multinational corporations which have more money than most human beings can dream of. That extra €27 million could be given to PhD researchers in order that they might have a living income, but it is being given to these guys instead. Maybe the Minister could tell us the latest figure for public expenditure on the research and development tax credit. The figure I have is that was €753 million per year up to 2021. The vast majority of that money goes to Google, Facebook, Apple and a small number of other companies. The Minister wants to give them another €27 million but there was not a cent extra in the budget - unless he wants to correct me - for PhD researchers. Honest to God, how can he justify that?