Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is right. Ireland is in a jobs crisis and we must do everything we can to promote jobs. What we need to do is create sustainable competitive advantages so that we can compete with any other country in the world with regard to foreign direct investment.

However, on many occasions this Government has chosen the unsustainable competitive advantage route. The proposal for an income tax of 23% for those earning up to €500,000, is unsustainable in a number of ways. It is unsustainable with regard to low and middle income earners who are being taxed to the hilt in order to carry the weight of the economy. Ireland was mentioned in London last week and in Washington yesterday in the context of Google and Apple, respectively. The leadership of Apple under oath, said there are deals for major tax incentives between this Government and their company. These incentives are completely unsustainable. Instead of such companies being incentivised to develop jobs in this country they are setting up smaller units, pushing exports through those units and they are not properly paying taxes on those units.

Will the Minister come clean and say whether his Government has any tax incentive deals, whatsoever, with any multinational companies?

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