Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The objective of our political direction is to retrieve economic sovereignty for our people and our country. That has been lost in the sense that we have been subject to a bailout in the troika programme. As I have said previously on many occasions, I have no intention of agreeing to anything on tax harmonisation. We have been clear about our corporate tax rate, as has everybody else in the House. It is set out clearly across the entire spectrum at 12.5%, with an effective rate of 11.9%. It is there for everybody to see and it has not moved up or down. Given that it is a legal right and responsibility of the Commission to produce papers in respect of the common consolidated corporate tax base, we participate in discussions but the paper to be tabled on 9 December will be about President Van Rompuy's proposals, which he has been mandated to produce. I have heard a great deal of comment about what might or might not be in them but, suffice it to say, we have no intention whatsoever of doing anything to disrupt the confidence in inward investment in regard to our corporate tax rate.

I go back again to the difference between fiscal discipline, which was the focus of the Chancellor's words, and fiscal union, on which other countries might have a view. With regard to fiscal discipline, the problem is countries signed on for conditions to which they have not adhered and, therefore, this naturally causes a lot of angst for countries providing loans in such situations. Ireland has measured up in this programme to all the conditions and has never breached the Stability and Growth Pact. We will go further next year by legislating for debt brake. From that perspective, I have absolutely no intention of doing anything disruptive to our corporate tax system and we will focus on every attempt we can to retrieve our economic independence and sovereignty, which is a requirement of everybody in the country.

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