Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Correct. The Deputy's memory is good; he does not suffer from amnesia.

Deputy Adams said that some propositions carry more weight than others. I was trying to deal with his point on whether a proposition for the Department of Finance submitted by a person who suffers from difficulties with sight receives the same consideration as the proposition of the leader of a party who wants to raise an issue of sensitivity regularly? The job of the Government is to reflect these matters as fairly as possible.

Deputy Higgins should note that it is only right and proper that the main employers of more than 30,000 people should be able to engage with the Government. I have made no secret of the fact that I am interested if they can create one job, ten jobs, a hundred jobs or a thousand jobs. Business has access to government purely in the sense of talking about opportunities for job creation and economic growth. That is where the future is for every other constituency and the country.

It is important that the local community council, entrepreneur and person setting up a business – there are 1,800 per month now – be able to articulate their cases for improvement in that sphere to the Government. I make no apology for that as the process is wide open and all is recorded.

I do not accept the Deputy's contention that democracy is being perverted. We have made it perfectly clear that the only tax that can be levied on companies here is on income generated here. As we know, Ireland, during its Presidency, prioritised files that took action against tax fraud, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning. There were a number of significant achievements in that regard. We do not meet any of the criteria set out by the OECD in its definition of a tax haven. We abide by both OECD and EU rules on harmful tax competition. For example, to avail of our competitive 12.5% rate, economic substance and economic presence are required. Thousands of companies demonstrate these.

We participate constructively in the international response. During our Presidency, we had a very strong and conclusive discussion at European Council level. There was a genuine response to the fact that legislation has not moved as fast as the digital world on this matter, and that a very strong international response is needed. Our corporate tax rate, 12.5%, has been always a stable cornerstone of our attractiveness as a location for foreign direct investment. This will continue to be the case. The Deputy is aware of the changes that occur in other jurisdictions. A product may be manufactured here and sold in another jurisdiction while intellectual property rights may belong somewhere else. Different criteria apply in each jurisdiction. We can only tax what is raised here in Ireland.

The Deputy mentioned Priory Hall. This was a scandal. I do not believe, however, that every single developer or contractor should be branded in the same way as those who put together Priory Hall. It is not just in one instance that negligence or incompetence occurred because there were systems failures along the line. Deputy Martin raised an important point about Horizon 2020 and the agri-sector, which has increased in international integrity. We produce food to the highest standard. We have a grass-based agri-economy and it will be worth more than €10 billion next year.

On the other hand, while there are many fine and beautiful buildings in our country, there have been cowboys in the construction sector who have brought down the name of Ireland in terms of its competency for construction and have destroyed the hopes and lives of thousands of people.

I also have to deal with the symphysiotomy situation. Why was this not dealt with? Why have we so many other legacies here, including the Magdalen laundries, that were endemic in Irish society and not dealt with? I hope during the next two and a half years that we can work on these issues.

Deputy Higgins made reference to Priory Hall and there have been a number of very constructive engagements on that issue by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, under the Minister, Deputy Hogan, with some assistance provided by my own Department. I hope we can deal with that matter effectively and quickly.

I do not accept Deputy Higgin's assertion that this is a perversion of democracy. We all live in the same country and we were all sent in here with the same consent, the secret ballot of the people. This is the peoples' forum and Deputy Higgins represents some of those people and is absolutely entitled to be here and articulate these viewpoints. However, I disagree with him fundamentally. If Deputy Higgins goes to the IFSC he will see thousands of mostly young people going to and from work, contributing to their country and he should be very proud of that. Others are envious of Ireland's status and progress. The Clearing House Group and the various sub-groups are looking at these industries to see how we can improve the situation further and have more people in gainful employment, with careers here in Ireland rather than abroad. I think Deputy Higgins should be very proud of that. With his south-western roots, he would know more about this than most.

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