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

As I said, I have announced that there will be a consultative process which will commence before Christmas. It is not aimed particularly at the multinationals; therefore, I invite a submission from the Deputy along the lines of what he has spoken about, if he feels like doing so. We have consultative processes for new initiatives in the Department of Finance. That is the democratic way in which we operate. I assume IBEC, IDA Ireland and the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland will make submissions. All of these organisations are very familiar with the requirements of multinational companies. However, we live in a global world and the main actors in terms of globalisation are multinational companies. The amount of revenue generated in Ireland by any of the big multinationals is quite small. The Deputy quoted American statistics, but I would not like it if the impression was given that they were based on profits generated in Ireland. They are based on profits generated worldwide. It is in the hands of the American authorities to amend their tax laws to take a greater proportion of revenue from American multinationals.

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