Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I compliment Deputies Maureen O'Sullivan, Joan Collins and Richard Boyd Barrett on tabling this issue for discussion. It gets to the heart of what type of Ireland we want to live in. That is entirely appropriate as we are on the eve of a general election. As Deputy Ross has said, it is not a revolutionary programme. It is a modest proposal against the backdrop of a Government which on nearly every issue tells us that we must comply with Europe, be it on water charges or whatever. However, when it comes to the issue of corporation tax, it is sacrosanct and untouchable. Nobody can dare to ask them to pay even a modest amount of cash. That is the backdrop to this discussion.

There is no secret whatsoever about the reality that Dublin has been known as a key tax avoidance centre for multinational companies. The brass plate goes up in the IFSC, with mythical employees and the channelling of profits through Irish subsidiaries to minimise tax liabilities. That is a fact and is not disputed.

Last weekend, we even had the example of the now infamous Cerberus which is in prime position to buy up yet more real estate at a knock-down price in the South of Ireland, having done so in the North of Ireland. Its tax figures were revealed at the weekend whereby it carries on this activity through 11 Irish companies. In 2013 and 2014, it had a turnover of €224 million and paid the princely sum of €10,000 in taxation. An average worker on a modest wage has probably paid more in taxation than Cerberus paid in Ireland in that time. That is what we are talking about - the glaring inequality in taxation in this State.

The name that Ireland has got for itself means it has undermined regulation and has contributed to the crash. It is utterly shameless. I had the privilege, or misfortune, of watching David McWilliams's television programme on RTE a couple of weeks ago with my daughter who has just gone into fifth year and has started studying economics for the first time. She would already have been subjected to some of the analysis we heard on the other side to the effect that taxation has to be encouraged to bring these companies in to get jobs and all the rest of it. She nearly fell off her seat at the evidence given there of multinational companies whose average profit per employee was $970,000 while average taxation per employee was $25,000. That is an effective rate of 4% when families and workers are paying considerably more. Citizens are meeting the deficit for that. The analysis set out the sharp increase in the proportion of taxes paid by ordinary citizens through social charges, indirect charges on consumption, the property tax and so on. We have to be clear about this. The theory that lower corporation taxes increase the incentive and capacity of business to invest is just not true. There is no evidence to support it.

Michael Burke did an excellent contribution to the Notes on the Front blog where he said that according to the OECD, a weighted average of the main corporation taxes applied in member states had fallen progressively over the past 32 years. In 1981, the average rate was 49.1% while in 2012 it was 32.4%. This was in a period of severe economic crisis. Low taxes are not proof against economic crises. We obviously do not have time to develop the points, but ironically the strongest year of Irish growth was 1997, which was six years before the 12.5% corporation tax was brought in. The argument that lower tax rates lead to higher investment has been disproved throughout the entire OECD area which has experienced a decline in growth over the past 30 years.

I think it is shameless that we would market this country as a sort of nodding Uncle Tom that bends the rules and doffs the cap to any establishment that would come in and throw us a few bob. Why can we not behave like a sovereign, independent nation? That type of approach is filtering through in all aspects of or economy and not just in terms of taxation. Ryanair's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, has been lauded as somebody who pays his tax here, but in reality he is about the only Ryanair employee who does pay his taxes here.

The company has orchestrated a situation whereby all its employees are nominally self-employed and are supposed to be employed in Ireland, even though they work in other countries. They avoid paying tax in those countries and the company can afford to pay them less. That is the reality. We have become famous for low standards and a race to the bottom.

I compliment the team for putting through the motion. There needs to be a complete overhaul. Those with the resources need to pay more. They are not doing so, but if we want an equitable and fair society then it has to be done. The rate has more than passed its sell-by date.

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