Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank our guests for coming before us and giving us the benefit of their expertise and knowledge in the area. I strongly support the concept of the removal of barriers, whether technocratic or bureaucratic, as quickly as possible. At the same time, we must bear in mind that any trade agreement is a two-way process. We must always recognise that there are benefits and losses and we must try to minimise the latter. There is not much sense in entering into an agreement that is beneficial to one or two sectors but hugely damaging to others. That must be borne in mind in the context of the negotiations taking place. The EU and the US are natural partners. They are both huge trading blocs with an enormous amount of production and have great potential to complement each other's efforts.

I am concerned about the ongoing references to Ireland as a tax haven because it is damaging. I am not having a political dig at my colleague here but much of the commentary is being trotted out in a way that is undermining our attempts to attract foreign direct investment and create employment. Often times there is a lack of objectivity and I cannot understand where it is actually heading. We hear foreign commentators regularly refer to the "double Irish" in a sneering way which is not helping our efforts to create employment and encourage foreign direct investment. We must be very aware of that. Any attempt to pretend that this is not damaging is wrong.

I attended a meeting six months ago where an international entrepreneur of considerable wealth had a swipe at us for the so-called "double Irish" in a way which clearly illustrated his belief that we were up to some kind of chicanery, had double standards and were not being honest. We are trading in the international arena and must take cognisance of the fact that all of this information goes abroad and can gain traction in a way that is damaging to our economy.

It should be clarified that profits earned in this country are taxed in the normal way at 12.5% and that there are no exceptions to that. It is open to companies which have operations in other countries to reroute their profits through EU states, but it is for them to decide whether to pay tax in the countries in which they have a manufacturing base. We should avoid attempting to undermine our own credibility in this area to the extent that we have done. Certainly, we should not collaborate with others who have a vested interest in competing with us in the international arena.

In the context of the point made by Deputy Smith, there is an enormous amount of Irish overseas investment at present. There are many major international companies located all over the globe which are providing jobs and benefiting local economies. It is not a one-way process and we should recognise the huge contribution made by such firms over many years. The day is gone when we were simply begging bowl artists. We now have a highly educated population with highly advanced technical skills. Our education system has produced some of the finest entrepreneurs in the world who are sought after internationally. We should not be apologetic about the fact that we have the power and the wherewithal to compete with anybody and to do so regularly.