Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister. He has touched on the key point in his response, that is, that any such tax would have to apply on a global basis otherwise it will only serve to disadvantage the countries in the eurozone or, if it is applied across the 27 member states, the European Union.

There was an excellent presentation this morning by Financial Services Ireland about its plans for the future. It raised concerns about the Commission's proposal for this financial transactions tax. Given the importance of financial services in Ireland, with 33,000 employed, more than 7% of GDP and the ambitious plans for the future with a target of an additional net 10,000 jobs in the sector in the next five years, we need to tread carefully. Particularly in the context of the resolution fund which is being set up under the Central Bank and Credit Institutions (Resolution) (No. 2) Bill 2011 that we discussed last week, is it better that we would deal with the issue of having an appropriate fund domestically rather than having a tax across the European Union which will only serve to disadvantage us and the other members?

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