Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

After the Minister's long lecture, I want to point out that the world has been brought to the brink of financial ruin and this country has hundreds of thousands unemployed. The offshore tax havens and those who are legitimately and legally considered to be offshore for tax purposes have brought the current economic collapse and depression to this point, where the lives of so many individuals and families have been irreparably damaged. The reaction of the Minister is to give a long lecture of the kind he probably gave to his students on law and the Constitution. We are speaking in a political forum and, on behalf of the people we represent, we wish to see people paying tax fairly. We would also like to see reform of globalisation and to see the use of tax havens and tax dodging devices by companies and individuals restricted and limited. This would be in the interest of the financial health of everyone in the long run. I find it disappointing that the Minister, in his lofty, college lecturer way, suggests that he has a superior understanding. I hope he might have a superior understanding of the mass unemployment afflicting this country. It is deeply disappointing that the Minister washes his hands of the notion that he might be able to do something positive to bring a sense of fairness and reform to the tax system, given the challenges we face.

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