Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy on the first quarter. I would not draw any conclusion on corporation tax for the first quarter and the key indicator for the year will be May. Nevertheless, the chief economist in the Department of Finance, John McCarthy, and I have been looking at this issue to see if we can form a view on the sustainability of corporation tax. We hope, as we approach the summer economic statement, that we can put some options to the Dáil on how we will do that. Deputy McGrath has told me previously that he would like to see this being done independently. While he has never undermined the professionalism of my Department, the Deputy has given some reasons as to why this should be done and I am reflecting on these. I want to ensure that when we do this work we have access to the black box, as it were, that lies underneath all of this in order that we can see the nuts and bolts of what is going on. I want the Department of Finance to have ownership of the process because corporation tax is such a key variable in what will happen in future. I am reflecting on how we might do that as corporation tax changes so often. If we see things changing before our eyes, I want to have an ability to understand the changes to be anchored in the Department of Finance. I hope to present a proposal on how we will do that in the summer economic statement.