Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is an interesting philosophical debate to be had about Deputy Mathews’s proposition that stamping out tax avoidance need not always be a good development. I can see certain circumstances in which this might be the case. However, in return for facilitating people in sheltering income, there has to be some kind of cost-benefit analysis: is additional economic activity generated, or are new jobs created?

In this particular case, we are not seeking to penalise the business that is the economic activity concerned. Rather, we are addressing the abuse whereby high-net-worth individuals are leasing plant and equipment to, for example, a manufacturing business in return for an annual or monthly rent while writing down the costs against their tax liabilities.

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