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

As the Deputy has said, Ireland has been doing very well with foreign direct investment. Statistics indicate that we get slightly over 3% of all foreign direct investment that goes into the European Union, which is approximately twice the proportion of European GDP represented by the Irish economy. We are in a good position. We will have to defend resolutely our right to set our own tax rates, and nobody in any of the fora which have discussed these issues has suggested we would be compelled to move away from the 12.5% rate. That rate is the centre point, together with the availability of skilled young people to work in industry. We are largely an English-speaking country and, together with our proximity to the European Union, that is part of a package.

The Deputy is right to state that this is being discussed in the US Congress and the House of Commons. Ireland has suffered some reputational damage because of the focus on the "double Irish" system. The OECD has issued the first of a series of reports, with the chief executive of its tax division singling out Ireland again for special mention. There is no doubt we are under international focus but in preparing for the budget I will take into account everything the Deputy has said. He has put out the balances of advantage fairly in the House.

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