Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

My main question relates to corporation tax in Europe but I will first address other issues dealt with by the Taoiseach.

I agree with the Taoiseach in his condemnation of the Taliban attack in Afghanistan, which he rightly described as wanton murder. That attack must be roundly and comprehensively condemned as an outrage but I hope our moral compass will be consistent when it comes to other outrages perpetrated against innocent children and families in Afghanistan. It seems to me that consistency is lacking as I have never heard the Taoiseach or anyone else speak of wanton murder when referring to the use of drones, controlled remotely in the United States of America, to kill innocent people in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Taoiseach and others have, rightly, expressed outrage at this latest atrocity but I hope they do precisely the same and use the same type of language when it comes to the use of drone weaponry by the United States in Afghanistan. If anything has fuelled support for the Taliban it is the US occupation of Afghanistan and its consistent use of drone weapons to bomb wedding parties, villages and so on. Sadly, this is driving some people in Afghanistan into the hands of the Taliban.

Much outrage has been expressed regarding the dire situation in Syria and the appalling record of the Assad government. The Taoiseach made reference to the latter and I could not agree more with the sentiments he expressed. The growth of ISIS in the mess that is Syria presents a serious danger and millions of Syrian people are suffering in the humanitarian crisis as they have been forced to flee their homes or killed. The Taoiseach articulated all of this but, as I have said previously, the key to unlocking this situation is to at least not obstruct the ordinary Syrian people from waging their struggle against Assad and ISIS, both rightly condemned by the Taoiseach.

The Turkish Government continues to obstruct the capacity of Kurds in Syria to take on ISIS and Assad. Incredibly, the international community continues to designate the representative of the Kurdish people, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK, as a terrorist organisation when, clearly, it is the legitimate representative of the Kurdish people and has been the most effective force in protecting ordinary Syrians against Assad and ISIS, most notably in Kobane. Why does the international community continue to designate the PKK as a terrorist organisation when, clearly, it is not? The PKK has waged an effective fight on behalf of ordinary, innocent citizens who are victims of Assad and ISIS. I ask the Taoiseach to raise his voice on behalf of ordinary Syrian people and their political representatives who are fighting to save their lives and protect them from despots and sectarians. There is a big international campaign seeking the de-listing of the PKK as a terrorist organisation and Ireland should add its voice to this.

On corporate taxation, the new Economics Commissioner, Mr. Pierre Moscovici, rightly said that the winds of change are blowing when referring to multinational companies that engage in aggressive tax avoidance across Europe. He noted that Ireland and Luxembourg are constantly implicated in such aggressive corporate tax issues. I found it interesting that the Taoiseach was effusive in his praise for Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker. He is now at the centre of this storm as, during his premiership of Luxembourg, tax rulings were passed in favour of multinational companies, including Irish multinational companies, that engaged in very aggressive tax avoidance on a massive scale. There has been a serious move against aggressive tax avoidance by the multinational sector in Europe.

The problem is that we seem to be on the wrong side of the dividing line of attitudes in Europe to this phenomenon, with Mr. Juncker and the Taoiseach on one side while others say we have to do something about these multinational companies getting away with blue murder when it comes to not paying a fair contribution in corporation tax. Is that not the case?

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