Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an díospóireacht atá againn anocht faoin gcáin chorparáide. Bíonn an díospóireacht seo againn go rialta sa Teach seo anois, go háirithe ó thaobh an ráta de, ach tá an rún atá os comhair an Tí níos leithne ná seo agus sílim gur rún iontach maith é agus go ndéanann sé ciall.

I welcome the debate on this matter and thank the Technical Group for tabling the motion. Although I would not agree with every part of it, it is a good motion and, unlike the Government's delusional amendment, it actually deals with the real world and Ireland's place in it. My party believes it is time for an honest debate on corporation tax in this State. In the past, when I even mentioned the name of a particular company - Apple - I was literally shouted down by Fine Gael Deputies, including by the current Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Dara Murphy. That is the level of maturity this Government has shown and has brought to the debate about our corporation tax regime. That is not good enough. Unfortunately, I see no signs of any progress in the amendment before us.

When I first suggested that we move to close the loophole that allowed some companies to be stateless, I was told it could not be done. I produced legislation but was informed it could not be enacted. Months later it was done. In January 2013, when I challenged the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, on the double Irish - one of the many times that I challenged him on it - he told this House:

The problem with the so-called "double Irish"from Ireland's point of view is that it has that name. People think that something we do here gives rise to it. That is not the case. It arises from tax codes elsewhere and the way in which the USA regards certain arrangements. We do not operate any kind of tax haven.

That is what the Minister had to say in 2013 but a year later the double Irish was closed down. Clearly, it was not just about the way that the USA regards certain arrangements. We always had the ability to close down the double Irish but the Government did not want to do so. Unlike with the closing down of other tax loopholes, however, companies have been given five years to stop using the double Irish. Compare the treatment for major multinational companies, some with wealth in excess of the wealth of this State, with that of other taxpayers who have been told overnight that they have lost their benefits, supports or tax credits as a result of decisions of this Government on budget day.

This is a Government that had to be dragged, kicking and screaming and under international pressure, to change any of our systems. On my request, the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform set up a sub­committee to examine the corporation tax issue and the very low rates that some multinational companies were paying to the State. It seems the Government members appointed to that sub-committee were given a mandate to shut down any discussion on the facts of Ireland's corporation tax regime. Despite the fact that companies which were tax resident in Ireland, particularly Apple, were willingly going before the United States Congress and saying that they had a sweetheart deal - created back in the 1980s - with the tax authorities here, members of the finance committee were unwilling to ask any of the multinational corporations to even come in and have a chat.

The Government says it is leading the way but that is a ridiculous statement. The Government has been dragged some of the way and is now claiming that it was a willing traveller on the road. My party supports the current rate of corporation tax but we think it should be a meaningful rate. We do not pretend to ourselves that every company pays it in full. Some do not and pretending that they do is simply foolish. This is about ensuring that profitable companies, some of them the most profitable in the world, pay the appropriate tax at 12.5%.

Reading the Government amendment, one would think that this country's reputation as a fair place to do business was not under a shadow. That shadow did not begin under this Government but it seems content to position the country under it for as long as possible. The world is changing, thank God, and is moving with small steps towards a more transparent tax environment. When Deputies in this House raise issues about the fairness of our system, however, they are shouted down.

Sinn Féin wants Ireland to compete for foreign direct investment and to benefit from it. The Minister for Finance spoken about the three Rs - rate, reputation and regime. Our rate is not in question and although it does not specifically call for it, I would not support the implication in the motion before us tonight that the rate must increase. Indeed, for many the rate is a red herring. Companies are not paying the full rate because of the different ways they can move or not declare profits and that is the problem. When it comes to the other two Rs, this State has a problem. Our regime has been probed in the USA, Australia and Britain and is now under serious scrutiny by the EU Commission. The shadow in this regard brings our reputation into question too. The Minister points to the changes made under this Government. There have been changes but all of them were made under serious pressure and done in a half-hearted manner. I have referenced a number of them already. Now the Government is introducing the mother of all tax avoidance measures, the knowledge box, thus backtracking on all of the changes that have happened. Knowledge boxes that were introduced in other jurisdictions are currently being examined, questioned and probed by other authorities.

I welcome the OECD report and action plan. I hope there are positive legislative changes in the Finance Bill which will make our system fairer and more transparent. I hope the needs of the developing world are kept central to the international work on this project. I have heard it thrown around in this State by people who know better that the BEPS project is about jealous countries attacking Ireland. That is absurd and I hope the Minister can put on record his view on that matter.

As we speak it is understood that the EU Commission is finalising its investigation into a potentially illegal tax arrangement between Apple and this State. That is an incredibly serious allegation. When this investigation was first announced the Minister, with very little credibility, played it down as routine and part of a wider EU investigation but that was never the case. This was always a serious, thorough and specific examination of Ireland's tax dealings. We have had spin and smoke and mirrors but when the final decision is taken, it will be in black and white. The investigation will determine whether this State acted to undermine its own tax base and to facilitate tax avoidance for a specific company. If it finds that Apple avoided taxes unfairly, normally that money would be returned to the State. That is what the law states. However, the Minister for Finance has repeatedly told me he does not want this money. He wants Apple to keep it. This must be a first. I have just come from a meeting of the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform which examined the powers Revenue has to make people who owe tax pay what is due. Yet, when it comes to huge amounts potentially due to the Irish people as a result of this case, we are told that the Government does not want it. That is a crazy position. In the year to date, an additional €1.2 billion has been collected in corporation tax - an increase of 45%. This did not happen because our corporations have recorded 45% increases in profits but because the squeeze is starting to come on them and they are being forced to pay what they should have been paying for years. We now have a hugely indebted country that does not want debt relief and a State that does not want the tax potentially due to it from a company which made massive profits while operating here, a company that has more wealth than the State itself. Meanwhile, the Government cannot find €4 million for the residents at Longboat Quay or for housing for the homeless.

My party is all for a real, mature debate on our corporation tax regime and reputation. We are in favour of an all-Ireland corporation tax rate and want Ireland to be a responsible member of the international community with no cloud hanging over our tax reputation.

We are in favour of foreign direct investment and domestic indigenous enterprise and we support the right of the sovereign state to set its tax rate. Nobody understands the importance of economic sovereignty better than my party.

Sinn Féin is happy to support the motion, notwithstanding the reservations I have outlined. To the Government, I say it is time to grow up, face this issue head on and forget about schemes based on a nod and a wink. It is time to start building a real industrial policy that is not based on unsustainable loopholes.

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