Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

I do not have the figures sought by the Deputy to hand but, in overall terms, there has been a debate on who pays what rate of corporation tax across the European Union. If one takes the effective rate rather than the nominal rate, Ireland is positioned in the lower segment of mid-table. Our effective rate is 11.9% whereas our nominal rate is 12.5%. The two rates are very close because most of the allowances have been removed over the years. France, for example, levies a variety of rates. The rate that applies to SMEs is approximately 32% whereas the rate is much lower for the top 40 French companies in general terms. This has been a matter of contention in France for a long time. While one needs to compare like with like, if one combines all the rates that apply in France, its effective rate stands at 8.1% even though it is making considerable noise about our effective rate of 11.9%. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, we are mid-table in Europe and are not at the bottom of the table by any means.

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