Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I am trying to raise revenue for the Minister in a difficult situation. In the Finance Bill the Minister proposed a 1% turnover tax and there is fair support for that as a fair compromise in terms of the measure that has been proposed. The problem is that seven of the ten providers have their servers outside this State; they are offshore companies. What the Minister proposes to do in trying to determine the 1% turnover tax will be a difficult task because these companies are based outside this jurisdiction. What I have suggested in these amendments is that the annual licence fee to have such a facility, or the new charge, would be a minimum of €50,000. As the Bill stands, it is €5,000. Increasing it to €50,000 would have a number of advantages. It would raise revenue. For some fly by night operators in existence outside this State who offer services to citizens of this State, it would set an important financial threshold that they would have to obtain were they to get a licence to operate in this country, and that would be significant. If they did not have the €50,000 upfront, they should not be registered or have a licence here. Many of these operators, be they in Gibraltar, Gambia or wherever-----

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