James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

That is an interesting point. The last time I spoke to Mr. Jennings we discussed newsagents. These businesses provide a great social value in rural towns. Quite frankly, people are in business to make a living and money but I worry about the Department's attitude to small retailers and small companies, and what they do for the fabric of society in constituencies like my own and a number of other constituencies. It is a fact of life that not every town can host a large IDA Ireland facility with a large number of multinational companies. As I mentioned during the last two meetings of this committee, 90% of the corporation tax take in this country comes from US multinationals. That is a huge risk in terms of the exposure we have on that particular point. I appreciate the information given by Ms McCabe. I might ask questions in the second round. The first person for a second round of questions is Senator Linda Nelson Murray and she has five minutes, if that is okay.