Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

Yesterday the Dáil unanimously passed a resolution asserting our belief that the European Commission's proposals on the common consolidated corporate tax base infringes the core principle of subsidiarity. It did this on the basis of an all-party committee report, which is a credit to the various Deputies who participated on it. One of the serious points that arose during the debate was the manner in which the position of the Minister for Finance changed because of the committee's work. His opening position was that the CCCTB did not infringe subsidiarity and he changed this only in the light of the work and the unanimous findings of the committee members. However, many people are confused as to what the Government's position is on CCCTB. It has gone from the clear outright opposition of last year to something described by Ministers and the Taoiseach as sceptical negotiation to constructive engagement. We would all agree that this is essentially having no impact on the negotiating position and has given the impression to others, including France and Germany, that we are open to trading on a fundamental issue such as the harmonised consolidated tax base.

Because it threatens to destroy more than €4 billion in national income, the corporate tax base is as much a threat as a higher rate. We know the Government's policy on one but we do not know its policy on the other. Every other government is clearly tabling its position on the tax base across Europe. The Dáil has taken a clear position on the tax base. Will the Taoiseach now go beyond the general ambivalent stance and the ambivalent generalities in which he has engaged up to now on the issue and tell us exactly the Government's position, what it is prepared to put on the table and what it offers to accept?

See this speech in context