Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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I will allow a very brief answer to the Deputy as I want to be fair to Deputies Burton and Ryan.

I will be very brief on both points. To answer the first question, it is partly because of companies' idiosyncratic strategies or profits but it is also because of international developments, such as BEPS, that potentially affect all or many of them at the same time. With regard to the issues the OECD is raising, which are very worthy issues in terms of long-term investment and the digital climate, there is general advice and there is quite a specific Irish context. Ireland has one of the highest public debt ratios in the OECD. It also has an economy that is performing relatively well. This means that some of the arguments that might apply in other places, such as that those policies can be financed through debt to help stimulate the economy, are much less applicable in the Irish context.