Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

They are, and no one is putting pressure on our rate. There are three issues with our corporation tax - the rate, which is 12.5%; the regime, comprising the rules and the system; and our reputation. The concern must be about the reputational issues. As the Deputy stated, ill-founded comments are frequently being made in the international media and it is difficult to chase them down and catch up when a mistake is made.

On the assumption that the investigation moves from the informal stage to the formal one, that will happen in a week or two. Subsequently, though, the process may take quite a while. If the issue ends up in the courts, we are talking about somewhere between three and five years.

It is not true to say that there will be knock-on effects. There is a single allegation that Ireland, particularly the Revenue Commissioners in their treatment of Apple, provided what is deemed to be state aid. The investigation is ring-fenced around Apple.

They are not investigating any other companies at present. The Deputy is correct in that we cannot sleepwalk into these things and we have to ensure we position ourselves properly, which we are doing, because in parallel to all this there is a major piece of work taking place at OECD level with which we are co-operating and which we are watching very carefully.

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