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

I would like clarification also because there have been instances in regard to aircraft leasing which have been an utter scandal. These are just further examples of the way the Government has crushed people with austerity taxes, charges and other cuts while fostering a regime which facilitates extraordinary levels of tax write-offs to the corporate sector, in particular multinationals.

I did not have time to check back on the exact details of one instance I mentioned in this House on a couple of occasions in the past. One particular firm, GE Aviation, an aircraft leasing operation managed to pay 0.1% tax because of the tax regime of so-called incentives and allowances allowed by the Government then. I would like reassurance that this incentive is not just more of the same. I tried to get some clarification from the Taoiseach's officials before coming into the House as to what this incentive was and they told me something to the effect that it was being introduced to comply with EU state aid rules.

Of course, that rings alarm bells for me, because it is precisely because of our facilitation of large-scale tax avoidance that we have been investigated by the EU Commission regarding breaches of state aid rules to the benefit of Apple. We are in serious trouble and our reputation has been seriously besmirched for having facilitated large-scale tax avoidance by one of the most profitable companies in the world. Therefore, I want reassurance that this is not more of the same. When I hear of the possibility that wealthy people with private aircraft could benefit from this, I want reassurance that this is not another case of tax breaks for high fliers from the Government. I ask for clarification from the Taoiseach as to who exactly will benefit from this and to what extent.

I am deeply suspicious of these allowances, deductions and tax breaks for the corporate sector. As I said earlier in response to the budget, one of the shocking and outrageous proposals in it is the 6.25% tax rate in regard to the new knowledge box proposal, as if 12.5% was not low enough. We are going to halve that rate, essentially as a mechanism to replace the double Irish rule and insulate multinationals in this country from having to pay an increased tax contribution. We are replacing the double Irish rule with another tax scam, called the "knowledge box". Therefore, alarm bells ring when I see the sort of proposal we have here. I would like clarification from the Taoiseach as to exactly what this is and want reassurance that it is not just another tax scam that will benefit the big corporates and the super rich.

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