Ms Josephine Feehily:

They must come into profitability to use up the losses. Its impact, and the reason the chapters for the past three or four reports have been concerned about it, is because it is material information to help understand how much tax the Government can expect to receive year on year. To the extent businesses come into profitability if they use up the losses they pay no corporate tax. It is useful information and that is all it is. It is perfectly legal.