Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform

Pre-ECOFIN Briefing: Minister for Finance

8:30 pm

Photo of Michael NoonanMichael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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There is no central collection system in Europe. Money is collected by the sovereigns, and if there are payments to Europe, they are remitted. I have no information that the participating states are thinking along any other lines, but I am not a participating state. There are wide differences of opinion on how the proceeds should be used and I am sure Deputy Murphy is familiar with some of those arguments. The proposals include a fund to combat climate change and a fund for subsidising poorer countries in the Third World, if it is acceptable to use that term. A range of proposals have been made. I would imagine that, in times of recession, the countries that collect would be likely to keep the FTT within their own exchequers.