Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

There are a couple of elements to the question. First, I do not accept what the Deputy says - that there has not been payback for the country delivering on targets in the agreement we have with the EU, ECB and IMF. Last year, there was a practical and tangible payback when we secured a reduction in the interest rate. The value of that payback in terms of our overall debt is approximately €10 billion, which is very tangible.

Second, we are continuing to have technical discussions with the ECB in respect of a number of matters relating to our overall financial situation.

With regard to the issue of corporation tax, the Government's position has been absolutely clear from day one: we are not going to change our rate of corporation tax because of the significant importance it has in providing security and certainty to investors and potential investors whom we need to create jobs. I believe that position is more clearly understood now among other European states and in the European institutions than it has been heretofore. Over the course of last year, we have done quite an amount of work in explaining the importance of that rate of corporation tax, not just for Ireland but in respect of investment in Europe, and the importance to Europe of Ireland's economic recovery.

When the financial transactions tax was originally proposed as a Tobin tax, it was conceived as a tax that would apply on a global basis. Our view is that that has merit. Applying it to a limited number of countries, however, is difficult. There was a proposal that it might apply only to the eurozone countries, which I think is what Deputy Ross is referring to. That would cause difficulties here in respect of the Financial Services Centre and the financial services industry here. It would put us at a competitive disadvantage, for example, with respect to London.

For that reason, we said the proposal was not acceptable to us. Whether it could be applied to the 27 member states of the EU, which is part of the discussions on the multi-annual financial framework for the European budget under way at the moment, is another question.

In assessing the issue, we must look at how it would leave EU states in respect of states outside the EU, such as Switzerland, and the competitive disadvantage that would apply. The other issue that must be taken into account is financial transactions, which is not just a regional or European issue. This is a global business. Within Europe, we must be careful about progressing the proposal in a way that would leave Europe generally at a competitive disadvantage in respect of its financial services industry. Particularly, the Irish Government is very conscious of not reaching any agreement that would put Ireland at a competitive disadvantage.

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