Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It appeared that a finality had been reached in the new regime, with a corporation tax rate of 15% being applied in every country. It now appears that every country is not stuck with that, particularly some large countries. Those countries can have an impact on our economy in a dramatic way because they are larger than us and have clout. They have also made reference to this country. I do not know why they should target us in particular, as there are bigger fish out there that are never mentioned at all, yet have been doing the same thing.

I will finish on this point. For a reason I cannot understand, I was one of the people who was called upon to go to over to Brussels in 2007 or 2008 where we were informed in that oval room where the Commission and everyone else meets that Europe was effectively broke and that this country was the cause of it. When probed, it transpired that other countries had sinned in the same fashion and to a far greater extent. They were signatories to the European Stability and Growth Pact and so forth. They had sinned repeatedly, but they were bigger, so they could afford to look down on smaller minions within the EU and apportion blame as they saw it. They pointed out, in our weakest hour, that we were offenders in this regard and needed to be punished in some way. I did not find it a particularly enjoyable experience, to say the least, and I was disappointed. I remember attending another meeting at the same time where the theme was “Where has social Europe gone?” Some guy eventually said that social Europe had overspent. That is what happened.

I am a little concerned about trends in various areas. We are doing our best to achieve targets in lowering emissions and so on. We are doing well, so we need to give ourselves credit, but if ours is a moving target, the bar is lifted as time passes and the number of options for solving the problem is reduced, it will make life difficult for future Ministers for Finance.

I thank the Cathaoirleach for allowing me to proceed on this subject. It may seem remote from today’s discussion, but it is not. It will come back to visit us again. I am worried about the extent to which the competition Commissioner can overreach the ability of member states to control their own taxation, which is their preserve. If the witnesses wish to comment on my views, fine.