Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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I fully appreciate that. Pillar 1 was always where the €2 billion figure came from. The Department of Finance estimates never envisaged what the rate would be, and rightly so because there were negotiations going on. It was always factored in at 12.5%. We now know that it will be a minimum effective tax rate of 15%, so it not just about the tax rate but the effective tax rate. That is obviously going to boost the coffers of our Exchequer. There is no doubt about that. The only danger to the Exchequer revenues would be a future pipeline of investment or companies deciding to move jurisdictions, which is thankfully not on the cards. While the technical assessment may not be done, and I appreciate that there is quite a bit of detail to be worked out, surely that €2 billion figure is going to come down. It could come down quite substantially given that the companies that will come under the scope of pillar 2 make up nearly 50% of our corporation tax rate in this State. They are currently paying a headline rate of 12.5% and an effective rate of less than that and now they will have to pay a 15% effective tax rate. Surely there is going to be a boost to the Exchequer coffers due to that.