Mr. Seamus Coffey:

I will take some of those points but first I wish to make a final point on intangible assets following the previous question. One thing that has changed since the review was published is US tax reform. The reform introduced a minimum effective tax rate for foreign intangible income in the US. Regardless of what tax is paid in others jurisdictions, US companies have to pay a fixed level of tax in the US. Even if the tax in Ireland were higher, under the new US rules it would not necessarily increase the overall amount of tax these companies are paying. They would get credit in the US for that. It could be that the additional tax in Ireland would not have a negative impact on those companies with the assets here previously.

Deputy Pearse Doherty asked about the domestic-foreign split in the Irish economy. There is no doubt that foreign multinationals have a major impact on Irish economic statistics and at times, it can be difficult to identify what is happening in the domestic economy. There is no doubt but that the profitability of Irish companies is lower than the profitability of domestic companies in other EU countries. That is not to say that their contribution is lower. Irish companies generate significant employment and significant pay for the economy. The share of value-added in Irish companies that goes to employees tends to be higher than in other EU countries. While the profits are lower, the overall outcome can be much the same with more simply going to workers. However, we are unique and different from an EU perspective given our dependence on foreign companies and the fact that they result in a major skew in our figures. From an Irish perspective, the figures mask the poor performance and profitability of Irish companies. Nevertheless, they are generating employment. We are getting taxes through them, including income tax, PRSI and USC. In overall terms, we do not collect significant amounts of corporation tax but that is simply because the profits are not generated. It is for others to suggest why the profits of Irish-owned companies seem far lower than the profits of domestically-owned companies in other countries. Anyway, the point holds.

Deputy Pearse Doherty asked about the whole issue of overheating and whether we could in a sense ring-fence corporation tax receipts for housing. I do not think that would be wise policy. Any suggestion of ring-fencing does not tend to work too effectively. If we want to prioritise housing, we should do it within whatever resources we believe are solid and sustainable. That is where our money should go, rather than creating circles, dancing rings around them and saying that a certain proportion of money is for this, that or the other. It is clearly the view that we have a housing issue in Ireland. If we believe additional resources should be devoted to address it, then we should simply do that.