Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has indicated that this has nothing to do with Irish tax law and American tax law is involved. Nevertheless, Irish tax law is at the centre of the issue. I indicated I would not mention a company but 1% of Google's sales were recorded in tax in Ireland in 2008. Where did the rest of it go? Some €5.4 billion of its profits were transferred to a Dutch holding company, and Irish tax law means that royalties paid from Google to the holding company in the Netherlands are exempt from tax. That is where Irish tax law fails. Some 98% of the royalties received by the Dutch company go to Bermuda, which is a tax haven. Irish tax law can deal with this by tackling the exemption that operates between Irish and European companies, which is what some of the big multinationals are using. They are transferring profits to other European countries and in turn to tax havens in Bermuda. It is well known and we can do something about it.

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