Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand that. The question of the de-listing of the PKK and the opposition to the Assad regime generally is one that has occupied a good deal of discussion at the various European Council meetings, and I imagine it will be at the centre of discussion again this week. I will refer to the point Deputy Boyd Barrett raised.

We do not have any idea of the scale or the reality of what is happening there. One in seven are now refugees and some 3 million ordinary people from Syria have fled into Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan. This is a humanitarian catastrophe and there is no plan in place other than an immediate response to try to give humanitarian aid to these people. There may be action on the instruction of the special representative of the UN Secretary General to try to talk some sense to people and discuss how something can be done such that the ordinary Syrian people can have their say. An election process is required in order that they can be in control and decide who they want to have in a government in Syria. Obviously, it is now an awful mess. It is a complex situation exacerbated by a humanitarian disaster.

I have always made the point that the question of taxation is a matter for each individual country, as is the case in Ireland, and we recognise that. We have been and we remain one of the leaders in contributing to the European Council debate on sorting out the consequences of the fact that the digital world moves far faster than the legislative world in terms of corporate tax. Ireland has been very up-front by getting rid of the stateless concept last year, the "double Irish" tax arrangement this year and our presentation in respect of clarity between now and 2020, as well as in the development of a so-called knowledge patent box arrangement, which would be appropriate for Ireland's position. We have been very much to the fore in the context of the debate at the OECD, with the view that this deserves a full-scale international response.

We have been in charge of our corporate tax rate of 12.5%, which has been a constant, moving neither up nor down. Similarly, we have been forthright in our support of and contribution to the debate on base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, and the need to have a final international response to the matter.

A letter was issued from the finance Ministers of Germany, France and Italy to the Commission calling for an EU campaign to tighten up the rules and the tax rules as well as improve the exchange of information between member states. The French minister with responsibility for finance discussed this with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, during his visit to Dublin last month. The Minister, Deputy Noonan, told him that Ireland welcomes the move in a positive sense as being a contribution to the wider international debate on how best to tackle aggressive tax planning. As Deputy Boyd Barrett is aware, the main thrust of that letter was a call for a new directive that would counter aggressive tax planning in the European Union. The Commissioner indicated that it was the intention of the Commission to propose various measures in this area. These measures will take some time to design, discuss and develop. Of course, tax remains a matter for agreement by unanimity at EU level. We will contribute to this debate.

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