Mr. Seamus Coffey:

We have a relatively simple system; a number is multiplied by 12.5%. After that very limited credits are available. There is a foreign tax credit as we include foreign income in our tax base but companies have already paid tax abroad on that. Of course we also have the policy decision made to offer the research and development tax credit. As I said in the opening statement, much of the attention should focus on the determination of taxable income and those deductions and allowances mentioned by the Deputy. The amounts of those are clearly available from the Revenue Commissioners. We can see the impact of them. It is not as opaque as might be the case in other countries, where there could be a wide variety of different rates and different regimes applying to different industries. There can be different regimes applying within different regimes. In Ireland we have a very transparent system by international standards.