Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

It is often said in criticism of the EU that it is like an oil tanker trying to turn around in that it takes such a long time to make decisions. I have not heard anyone say previously that it is a benefit of the EU to take such a long time to make decisions.

Ba mhaith liom ar dtús fáilte a chur roimh an rún seo. This motion is to be welcomed, as is the committee's unanimity on the matter. The Government parties hold a view contrary to that of the Department of Finance, whose opinion is that the Commission's CCCTB proposal doescomply with subsidiarity. That must be a point of concern for all Deputies.

However I wish to put the focus on subsidiarity and the politics and purpose of the Commission's plan to push ahead with a common consolidated corporate tax base for Europe. Let us not forget that in September of last year the EU's Tax Commissioner publicly stated that if member states did not sign up to CCCTB it would be prepared to force the issue using enhanced co-operation procedures - thus threatening to place Ireland outside the European core.

It is also worth remembering that prior to the Lisbon treaty referendums - during which corporate tax became a central issue - Fine Gael and Labour MEPs supported the infamous Bersani report in the European Parliament, one which called for common corporation taxes. Thankfully, both parties have seen the error of their ways and have come round to the Sinn Féin point of view on the issue.

The European Commission has been working on the introduction of CCCTB since the 1990s. Having already consolidated almost everything else to varying degrees - the economic, social, monetary and budgetary policies of member states - taxation is simply the next logical step for consolidation. The proposition set out by the Commission that it is merely seeking to create a formula for calculating corporate tax rates and the apportionment of such taxes and not the rate itself - is a fudge in itself. Either way, it means this country will lose its ability to set its own corporate taxes.

Let us be very clear. There is no treaty provision in matters of direct taxation. This is a matter solely for member state governments to decide. In real terms that means the CCCTB should not even be on the table for discussion. In fact, the Government's entertainment of the directive is to ignore the critical lessons at the heart of the European project currently and the financial crisis that is enveloping Europe. Issues pertaining to finance and taxation policy cannot be governed by a one-size-fits-all package. This country, like many of the periphery countries, is on a completely different economic cycle from the core eurozone members. Accordingly, the dictation of interest rates by core members when this country's economy was racing ahead, further accentuated the property bubble and the boom we went through in recent years. That interest rates are increasing at the behest of the core European countries at the time of one of this country's greatest recessions will make recovery far more difficult. In light of the current situation it does not make sense to even put the CCCTB on the table.

The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, has a different view. He was not a week in government before he told the House that we must "live up to our responsibilities and engage with our European partners on any tax proposals brought forward by the European Commission". Being a member of Fine Gael means one is sometimes burdened with trying to be the best European child in the class. It appears that the party wanted to show off its European credentials. The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, laboured the point by adding: "The CCCTB proposal has been brewing for some time and the publication of the directive will, if anything, finally enable a constructive and forthright debate to begin on the issue."

Perhaps Fine Gael could explain to the House why we need a "constructive and forthright debate"ona European directive that seeks to influence and control this State's ability to set its own taxes when there is no treaty provision - and therefore no requirement - on the State to do so? Perhaps the Government's position on CCCTB should be viewed in the context of its gradual acceptance of the IMF-EU programme. What started out as an uncompromising declaration of renegotiation quickly became, post-election, a meek acceptance of the EU-IMF diktat. Prior to the election the Labour Party boldly stated that "it did not accept that the EU-IMF deal provides a workable basis for restoring the Irish economy". The Labour Party told its voters the fiscal strategy set out in the EU-IMF deal involved excessive austerity that would put jobs and growth at risk. Fine Gael, perhaps to up the ante, told the people that it believed the EU-IMF bailout deal had not and would not restore investor confidence in this country and must, therefore, be renegotiated to reduce the interest rate and to ensure a fairer sharing of the cost of fixing Ireland's broken banks. Its manifesto was categorical in its condemnation of the programme, stating: "The current deal is bad for Ireland - and bad for Europe." Emboldened by the heady days of a post-election pact, Fine Gael and the Labour Party's programme for Government committed the parties to recognising that there was a growing danger of the State's debt burden becoming unsustainable and to ensuring that those measures to safeguard debt sustainability were urgently explored.

Over the past number of months, I and my colleagues in Sinn Féin have put the question to the Minister for Finance with regard to the exact point of unsustainability. Surely it is one of the most important issues facing the country. If there is a point of unsustainability, as alluded to by the Minister, Deputy Noonan, the Government should come clean and pinpoint where that is and inform the people how close we are to it. So far we have been refused an answer on this.

When the big day of negotiation arrived, the Labour Party and Fine Gael bottled it and on 28 April signed up to the very same deal with the EU and IMF that Fianna Fáil so badly negotiated late last year. Ministers will tell us that they re-jigged the deckchairs on the Titanic and that Ireland's banking system is now in a better place. In other words, their wheat is different from the Fianna Fáil chaff. Nobody, not even Deputies and Ministers on the Government benches, truly believes that.

Sinn Féin will closely follow the Government's constructive and forthright debate on CCCTB with our European partners. We will wait to see whether the Minister, Deputy Noonan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Hayes, can reconcile their view on the matter with that of their Department. We will see if Fine Gael will live up to its election manifesto commitment to oppose any attempt to dilute the unanimity required for tax harmonisation and if the Labour Party will live up to its promise to oppose any move towards a mandatory common consolidated tax base.

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