Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá mé buíoch as ucht an deis labhairt faoin ábhar fíor-thábhactach seo. Aontaíonn Sinn Féin leis an gcuid is mó den rún seo.

Last week, we heard from the CSO and the OECD that 17.5% - one in six - of Irish people are living abroad. That is a phenomenal figure and it is far worse in the 20 and 30 age group, which is one in four. That makes Ireland worse with regard to those OECD figures. We know that approximately one third of a million people have emigrated, that 250,000 here are unemployed, that 85,000 people are on activation schemes such as JobBridge and that approximately 110,000 people who are underemployed seek proper hours. Approximately 750,000 people out of a population of 4.5 million have been hit hard by this Government's policies.

I spoke with an elderly man recently who has just gone blind as a result of cataracts. He is taking a blood thinning tablet, which means that if he falls and cuts himself he will bleed profusely. He has to wait two years for an operation on his eyes. Five thousand people throughout the country are homeless. People are dying, literally, on the streets for the lack of accommodation. Hundreds of thousands of others are waiting for houses or are to the pin of their collar with regard to mortgages or extremely high rents.

During the recession, the wealth of the 100 richest people in the State increased by €12 billion. The richest 20% own 73% of the wealth of this State while the poorest 20% own 02% of the wealth. Part of the reason for that breakdown in services and in the cohesion of the State is the fundamental tax injustice that exists. Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour have made tax avoidance an international competitive advantage of this State and, as a result, our reputation internationally is mud. Some years ago, the Taoiseach travelled to California and the Governor of that state joked about Ireland's tax avoidance schemes.

This Government has been dragged kicking and screaming every inch of the way with regard to these issues. We have seen U-turns on the double-Irish arrangement with regard to making stateless companies tax resident here. Even when it acted, there was a reluctance and a meanness of spirit. Companies will have five years to extricate themselves from the double-Irish arrangement. What other group of taxpayers would be given a five years period of grace with regard to a tax loophole being closed?

Yesterday, the OECD produced the latest report on BEPS. The idea behind the OECD plan is a worthy one. In the same way that tax evasion at home should be tackled, it should be tackled on an international basis. It is obscene that we have hugely profitable companies, some with turnovers the size of countries, being allowed through accounting practices and other schemes to legally avoid paying much tax at all. We should be clear: Ireland's ability to set its corporation tax is not in question and any argument on that issue is simply a distraction and should not be given any time. What is in question is the ability of the country to fund important services, and our international reputation and in that there are serious and legitimate challenges.

The BEPS plan is not perfect. It has many weaknesses and some of them have been discussed in previous debates.

However, it is a good step forward and it should be actively implemented. I am gobsmacked at some of the figures I have seen today. Thus far this year we have seen an increase of 45% in corporation tax receipts. That represents over €1 billion, an unbelievably large figure. At the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform I asked the chief economist of the Department of Finance what could account for this vast increase. Suggestions were made that it could be because of increased profits or the change in exchange rates. The change in exchange rates or profits could never account for a 45% increase in the three quarters of the year. The chances are that large companies are now putting their taxation houses in order because the base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, measures are coming down the road. If this is the case, and if it follows that we will have higher receipts in corporation tax amounting to hundreds of millions of euro, if not billions, then the Government's inaction in this area during the past four years has actually cost the State €4 billion. The Government has been ideologically opposed to getting these companies to pay their fair share of taxation. The results can be seen in the accident and emergency departments, emergency accommodation and classrooms in this country. This is an example of the vandalism the Government has wrought on the country.

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