Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I have heard what the Minister said about the review that has been taking place. It is not what I want here. I want to look at the issue and not just the volatility or the contribution. I do not want to rehearse it again but strong views have been expressed in that report by the chair of the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, although he was not speaking in his official capacity. He came before the joint committee and made the point that this could not be seen as reputational damage. He also made the point that it is a timing issue and, therefore, the company should have no problem in paying this tax because the only reason that there would be an issue for it paying this tax here and now is if it was of the view that it was going to change its tax structure in the future and that is a potential risk.

I am going to withdraw the amendment at this stage but I hope the Minister will be a bit more specific about the terms of reference than he has been. I acknowledge that at least the area is going to be looked at but we need to be a bit more specific. God forbid, somebody is sitting at this table in ten years' time and saying that this was flagged time and time again and that, over the intervening ten-year period, we lost €7 billion of tax revenue. Potentially, that is the quantum of money we are talking about. Nobody, including me as an Opposition spokesperson who has a responsibility to scrutinise this, wants to be a part of missing out on that tax revenue. It may occur and it may not but there is a risk that needs to be quantified and evaluated.