Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

While I agree with the Minister on comparisons between the French rate or even the European average and Ireland's effective rate, I would like to know the number of profitable companies which pay a low effective tax rate as a result of being able to write off their taxes against the various initiatives introduced in successive budgets. Can an argument be made for a minimum effective tax rate for profitable companies so that they can only avail of these schemes to a certain extent? That is the line of questioning I wish to pursue but I do not know if the Minister has the relevant figures to hand. Clearly, if our effective tax rate is lower than the nominal rate certain companies are paying smaller amounts and I would like to know the rationale for this. Is it on the basis of being able to avail of different schemes, as was the case for high earners until a minimum tax rate was introduced in respect of them? This is the type of information I seek.

See this speech in context