Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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There is no negotiation. The Revenue did not do any deals. We will work internationally through the OECD and with any other international body. I actually sent a letter to Commissioner Semeta who is in charge of tax and we then wrote jointly to every colleague in the European Union. We agreed there were six areas of tax avoidance that had to be addressed during the Irish Presidency. We have achieved four of them over the line already. We are a transparent tax-compliant country. The OECD has stated this. All international informed opinion knows this. The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal have said so in their respective editorials today. I do not wish to be the whipping-boy for some misunderstanding in a hearing in the US Congress. That is my only point. The US Congress can do its business as best it may and they are very good at it but we do not want to be the whipping-boy for misunderstandings. That is the position on how the 2% is calculated and it is a flawed calculation.