Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

When the committee met various ambassadors, the Chairman used the opportunity to look for their support. There is no doubt that our relationship with countries in Africa and other parts of the developing world has another dimension now that there is a trade element to it. While I accept what the Tánaiste said in his reply about the approach to illicit capital flight, I have to say it does not appear to be working. I have read reports suggesting that amounts between €116 billion and four or five times that amount have been lost as a result of illicit capital flight. I have read that the amount which has been lost is 20 times more than the amount which would be needed to meet all the millennium development goals in the countries of the developing world, which is a frightening statistic. Ireland could take a stronger stance on a number of points, for example by insisting on country-by-country auditing, scrutiny of double taxation agreements and the automatic sharing of tax information between countries. We could lead by example by insisting on the collection of the full rate of corporate tax in this country.

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