Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

I have a wider point in relation to the foreign earnings deduction scheme, but I will stay on Deputy Timmins's point because I was going to raise the matter myself. I intend to bring forward an amendment on Report Stage unless we are able to deal with this. The rationale behind the foreign earnings deduction scheme at the time was to encourage companies, through the taxation system, to explore and find new markets and to deepen our relationships with emerging markets. The countries that have been included in the scheme have grown and expanded over different finance Bills, and there are areas the Department of enterprise and others, including IDA Ireland, have looked at as areas where we could deepen integration and increase exports to.

In the context of the illegal invasion by Russia of Ukraine, and at a time when we have supported the European Union in a deepening of the sanctions against Russia as a result of the invasion and the war it is perpetrating on the Ukrainian people, the idea that we have in this tax code a restatement that we are facilitating a deeper integration with Russia at this time is seriously problematic. I looked at the exports between Ireland and Russia; they have actually increased in the past year. The Ukrainian Embassy has reflected on that, and not in glowing terms, in relation to Ireland. This measure is about encouragement. It is not appropriate to be encouraging that type of relationship at this point. An amendment to this section, which would allow for the Minister to suspend this measure in relation to a country, through strategy, would be appropriate. It would then allow the Minister, please God, because we need this war to finish and to end, if the Minister so wished, to readmit a country into this measure.

I think it is appropriate and I think it is rational. As I have said, if the Minister is not willing to move on that, I flag to him that I will look to bring this forward as an amendment on Report Stage. This would enable the Minister of the day to suspend a country from the list for any period of time. It could be another country on that list in the future. I believe it would be an appropriate provision to have.