Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

There is a difficulty in the context of external funding, with the idea that any of the relevant organisations might have a negative view about our corporate tax regime. They do not have such a difficulty. One of the facilities is contingent not just on support from the European Commission, but from the different member states of the eurozone. Both President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel have made the position clear that they do not see this as an issue in these negotiations; it has not been an issue in the negotiations for international and external assistance and it will not be an issue. It does not arise and we would be better occupied devising the strong arguments that exist and developing cases for Ireland having the 12.5% rate.

There are individuals, economists and commentators in some member states who feel this is some form of predatory advantage for Ireland to enjoy this corporation tax rate. It is important to put on record that various states have hidden subsidies for their industrial systems. For example, very large countries often have arms industries which play a very significant part, through public procurement, in the relevant member state of building up the economy. Happily, we do not have any arms industry in this country but that is an example of how industrial growth can be procured in larger countries through an industrial policy that is unavailable to us.

We are a peripheral eurozone member state and we must use all the tools and weapons at our disposal to attract inward investment. We have had a consistent policy for the past 50 years, as the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, pointed out and we intend to continue with the policy. I thank Deputy Noonan for his contribution and I agree with his view that economic recovery is not about cutting and taxing, but above all about growth. He pointed to our well-established export-oriented services industries, including the IFSC, and the contribution they can make to our revival.

There is a good story we must tell about our export markets. Our exports have increased by 6% this year and although we have real difficulties with our budgets and in our banking sector, our exports have increased dramatically. Our unemployment levels stabilised in October and November, with a month-on-month decrease in the live register for the first time since 2007.

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