Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for that clarification.

It is an issue that has arisen in recent days as a result of a Senate hearing in the United States that sought to portray Ireland as a tax haven. The designation "tax haven" has some serious connotations. I am disappointed, notwithstanding the remarks of the Taoiseach at home, that while Ireland holds the Presidency of the European Union, he has not taken his case to the United States this week, to go to Capital Hill to say not necessarily to parliamentarians but to the corporate world in the United States that Ireland is not a tax haven and that under the EU structures, no state within the Union can be classified as a tax haven. The connotations attached to the term tax haven conjure up all sorts of negative viewpoints for companies and investors in this country and Europe generally.

Why has the Taoiseach not taken it upon himself, while holding this important office for the next number of weeks, to make our case in the United States not just on behalf of Ireland but on behalf of the European Union?

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