Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I was staggered to hear a report on a meeting of a committee of the US Senate about the tax affairs of two companies which are registered in this country. The first company, Apple Operations International, is 32 years old, had an income of $30 billion dollars between 2009 and 2012 and has never had a single employee. Its assets are managed by a company based in Nevada, its bank accounts are located in New York and its accounts and book-keeping are done in Texas. Not one of this company's bank accounts or management personnel is located in Ireland. It holds its board meetings in California. Apparently, the sole Irish director of the company attends these meetings by telephone. Most incredibly, it has not been registered for tax purposes in this country or any other country for at least the last five years. The second company, Apple Sales International, makes an Irish tax return. I would like to know if what was said regarding this company at the US Senate committee is correct. It was suggested that the company paid corporation tax of just $10 million on profits of over $22 billion - an effective tax rate of 0.05% - in 2011. According to the Senate report, this arrangement has allowed it to "shift $74 billion" from the US to Ireland "where Apple has negotiated a tax rate of less than 2%".

It is no secret that we have a low rate of corporation tax in this country. We support this rate because it helps to attract multinational investment. Like everyone else, I welcome this investment. Most of the business world is talking about our corporate tax regime. Ireland has been described as a tax haven in the US Senate even though in many ways it is not. We are asking people to take cuts and tax increases because this country is up to its neck in debt. As we all know, this is difficult for many families. Irish businesses are struggling to stay afloat. Irish people and business owners need to get a cast-iron reassurance that neither Apple nor any other company has been the beneficiary of a special corporate tax rate. The people need to know that every company in Ireland is paying its fair share and that Ireland is not a tax haven. A global debate on this whole issue is ongoing. When the G8 meets in Northern Ireland next month, it is important for the various leaders to consider how best to deal with this matter. It is also important for us to remind Irish and international companies that they benefit from the input of the State in terms of the services provided to them and the education received by their workers etc. I look forward to the Minister's response. I hope he will outline how the Government intends to deal with this issue.

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