Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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First, I do not agree with the majority position in the committee or the position of the Parliament. Our group, the Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit, voted against it in the Parliament because we think tax avoidance is one of the major scandals of our age. It is a major contributory factor to the inequality which sees eight people in the world own the same as the bottom 50% and Ireland functions as a key link in a chain of global tax avoidance, in reality as a tax haven for companies such as Apple, Google, Facebook and others. The CCCTB could be part of an answer to the problem, the major problem being the apportionment as proposed. The emphasis is on sales. Giving one third to sales seems to have no theoretical basis whatsoever. It should be on the basis of where value is created, which is related to labour. We might come back to that matter.

The first question I wish to ask relates to the FAQ about the proposal in which the Commission states it will reduce the level of harmful tax competition.

Would the Commissioner regard Ireland as a country engaged in harmful tax competition?