Mr. Barry O'Leary:

There is much controversy about the global, not just the Irish, tax environment. On the question whether they pay enough, we must examine what happens around the globe. They are paying a substantial amount of corporation tax, €2.7 billion, which equates to €19,000 per year per employee in the multinational base. That is a high burden. In the EU, countries get approximately 2.4% of their GDP by way of corporation tax. Ireland gets 2.6%, so it is higher than average, and the UK gets nearly 3%. Countries compete for investment in a variety of areas. Some countries put massive amounts of money into research and development, including some of the most developed economies in the world such as Switzerland, Singapore and the Netherlands. Multinational companies deciding where to locate examine the transparency of the 12.5%. Everybody is entitled to it in Ireland. If one goes into cantons in Switzerland one could negotiate a rate of 3.2% or 1.8%, so it is discriminatory and that is getting even more focus than the Irish standard rate. A lot of tax is being paid by international comparison. We would like to get more and some global changes will arise from the current debate, but they will take quite some time because of the complexity of the global footprint of tax arrangements.