Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I do not propose to support these amendments. This series of amendments proposes to insert the words "managed and controlled" into sections of the Bill. When one considers it, the objective appears to be to cause all companies registered in Ireland to be tax resident in Ireland. One must think carefully about this and neither I nor the Minister, Deputy Bruton, is in a position to consider the full impact or consequences of any change to tax law because such an exercise, for the purposes of this Bill, comes within the remit and the function of the Minister for Finance. Moreover, the proposed amendments are illegal under both European Union and international law. The provisions would fall foul of the European Union law on freedom of establishment, which is a core aspect of European Union law. Compliance with this is monitored closely by the European Commission and Ireland recently has been required by the Commission to change a provision of Irish law, which requires that at least one director of an Irish company be resident in Ireland. This provision, as proposed, would go much further and effectively would require all management activities to occur within the State. This clearly would be a hindrance to cross-border trade within the European Union and would trammel significantly the ability of a company from another European Union member state to establish itself in Ireland. Furthermore, the proposal would put Ireland in breach of obligations under double taxation agreements with other countries. This is completely unprecedented and would be highly prejudicial to Irish commerce and to Ireland's reputation internationally. Consequently, for these reasons I will not be accepting these amendments.

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