John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not have that much to say on this legislation other than that its main provisions focus on incorporating into Irish law certain aspects of the Singapore treaty on trade-marks, amending our 1996 trade-mark legislation, providing a research exemption and giving greater legal certainty and assurances for companies carrying out pre-patent experiments and trials necessary to obtain regulatory approval. As such, I have no difficulty with supporting the legislation.

I, too, want to use this opportunity to refer to certain aspects of the budget. I have a slightly different view from the previous speaker on the provisions in the budget aimed at phasing out what is called the "double Irish" mechanism. The provision in the budget is sensible in that it does not come into effect immediately. It commences for new entrants from the start of 2015 and it provides for a phasing-out period of a number of years for existing companies in this jurisdiction.

Ireland was subject to considerable adverse publicity in the past 18 months, in particular. "Reputational damage" is the term used. Since I got my degree in economics, I have always read the finance pages. I have noted considerable adverse and negative comment on our taxation system stemming from what became known as the double Irish mechanism, to such an extent that television programmes in other jurisdictions focused on it. The mechanism was inflicting some reputational damage on our country and economy.

I agree with Deputy John Deasy that the effects of the phasing out are unclear at this stage, but I believe there is sufficient lead-in time such that the worst of the effects might be dissipated. It was interesting that Deputy Deasy referred specifically in his comments to a survey on why multinationals are in Ireland. The figures he gave all concerned the corporate taxation rate. Ever since Mr. John Bruton was Taoiseach, every Government has made it crystal clear that the corporate taxation rate is 12.5%. We have no intention of moving from this, despite what governments in other parts of the European Union, in particular, might like to see. Deputy Deasy correctly pointed out that there are thousands of jobs in all corners of the country that owe their existence in part to the certainty surrounding our corporate taxation rate. That certainty has been copper-fastened. In his budget speech, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, made it quite clear that the rate is not for changing. There are some Members of this Chamber, who are not now present, who believe there would be no effect if we were to increase the rate by one percentage point. It is amazing the number of people who end up on talk shows arguing we could get a couple of billion euro extra for our public finances if we raised the corporate taxation rate by one to 1.5 percentage points. We could but it would also ensure that thousands of jobs would be lost, virtually overnight in some cases.

The majority of multinationals based in this country are here because of the certainty surrounding the corporate taxation rate. That certainty has been reaffirmed on several occasions, most recently in the budget announcement last week. I concur with the Minister's view. The introduction of the phasing out of the "double Irish" provision was a necessary measure to curtail perceived damage to the reputation of the country.

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