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

There are 200,000 or more ordinary people, as the Deputy described them, working in foreign direct investment companies in Ireland and we want to ensure that not only are these jobs preserved but that they grow in number and prosper. We abolished the double Irish, which was never an invention of the Irish tax authorities. The tax avoidance arose in matching gaps in different nationalities' taxes and an advantage was gained, but it was never marketed by IDA Ireland or any other Government authority as an inducement to come to Ireland. It is being removed in the Finance Bill 2014 and we will have a chance to discuss the details in the next couple of weeks as we go through the Bill. The intention behind the knowledge box is to ensure we remain competitive. The United Kingdom, Holland, France and Spain have patent boxes and it is the intention of many other European countries to have them. Modern industry is driven largely by intellectual property. If a country is not at the races, it is not going to be seen as a location for modern industry. The intention is that an advantage will be given to companies which establish real research and development activities in the country. It is not a system to avoid tax.

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