Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

All of us accept that change is coming to the international corporation tax environment. The question for Ireland is whether we anticipate those changes by seeking first mover advantage, if there is an advantage to moving first, or wait to see how other countries respond and move in step with them. I am concerned that, if Ireland moves unilaterally on the double Irish issue, the focus will move to other issues pertaining to our corporation tax regime in the absence of other countries making changes to their systems. We may lose a competitive edge and it would be the second significant change in 12 months to our corporation tax regime. The Minister dealt with the issue of stateless companies in last year's budget.

The issue of certainty is fundamental to corporation tax and inward investment decisions. My instinct is that Ireland should move on an agreed basis with other countries and be cautious about making any changes to our corporation tax regime. We should be under no illusions that behind all this international drive towards an improved corporation tax environment, other countries are looking at Ireland with envy because of the more than 150,000 direct jobs in multinationals here and the investment associated with that. They want our jobs and investment. It is an economic reality we must accept.

In the context of the consultation exercise and the report it is intended to publish, is the Minister considering changes in this area for the 2015 budget? I know the Minister cannot tell me what are the changes but is this very much a live issue in the budget deliberations?

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