Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I listened to the contribution of Deputy Eamon Ryan, who alleged that this decision by the Government was motivated by a lack of confidence. He correctly described the many changes that have taken place in the environment in which our country operates and the economic policies of our country. We moved from being a closed economy to one that became open and deeply embedded in a globalised, if not hyper-globalised, world. However, far from being reflective of a lack of confidence in the context of our national interest, I would contend that this decision by the Government is the very opposite. This is a Government that is confident in a Dáil and Oireachtas that is confident about the long-term interests of our country, politically, economically and legally, and I hope we will see that in the vote later today. It is motivated not by fear or a desire to stand up on behalf of one company. It is not motivated by a fear of the possibility of even greater challenges than the ones we have just come through. It is driven by an awareness and confidence - not a lack of confidence - regarding what it believes to be in the long-term interests of our State. We believe that appealing the decision of the European Commission is the right thing to do for the long-term economic interests of our State, our ability to retain the jobs we currently have and our ability to create more jobs in the future in a global environment that is changing and is more volatile and disruptive than has been the case in the past. I would suggest to Deputy Ryan that to accuse those of us who have these beliefs of sophistry is to belittle his own judgment, case and argument on this.

I also listened to what Deputy Donnelly had to say and will certainly pass on to the Minister for Finance and the Revenue Commissioners his two proposals regarding the decision that was made yesterday.

The Deputy made the point, as I understood it, that nobody is alleging that the Revenue Commissioners did anything wrong-----

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