Tony McLoughlin (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, Acting Chairman, for the opportunity to speak on this important motion. I wish to place on the record my deep disappointment and concern that the decision to appeal this ruling took so long to be agreed on by the Government. It should not have required a media circus and a number of days of political turmoil to make a decision that is in the best interests of the country.

I will be supporting the Government's motion to appeal the European Commission decision. I do so as I believe that the Government needs to defend the integrity of the Revenue. Revenue did nothing wrong and did not break any laws. I also believe that as a sovereign nation we need to ensure the European Commission does not begin to try to interfere in taxation policies of any EU member state.

Quite simply, I believe that the European Commission's finding was wrong. As the records show, the full amount of tax which Apple owed to Ireland was paid in full and no state aid was provided. Ireland did not give favourable tax treatment to Apple and we did not do any deals with taxpayers. Judging by the contradictions on the day of the ruling, the European Commission seems to want Ireland to police international taxation while also collecting tax that may be subsequently obtained from Ireland by other EU member states at a later date. This is simply not acceptable and it sets a dangerous precedent.

We must fight this finding in the European courts in order to protect Ireland’s international reputation as a place in which to invest. While there is a bigger debate ongoing about international tax avoidance, I believe that the day of big corporations getting away with tax avoidance in the EU is gone.

I say this because, Ireland, as a founder member of the OECD, has been at the forefront of international tax reform. Ireland has been an early mover in implementing the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting, BEPS, project and we have participated fully in important reforms at EU level through the recent anti-tax avoidance directive. These changes in taxation are widely recognised as being of the highest international standards. In fact, these changes have already resulted in Ireland taking in more corporation tax in 2014 and 2015 than in any previous years.

Ireland is also a strong supporter of tax transparency and administrative co-operation, which are key to tackling the global problems of tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning. While I have no problem saying that Apple may owe this €16 billion in taxes to some other countries, it certainly does not owe it to us. To say otherwise is ridiculous.

In the wake of the European Commission ruling on Apple, there has been much talk about Ireland’s corporate tax and how the European Union may be targeting our 12.5% rate in the long term. I want to be very clear on this issue; our 12.5% rate is not up for negotiation and the European Commission needs to realise this. Ireland’s 12.5% corporate tax rate is essential for jobs in this country.

For example, in my constituency of Sligo-Leitrim it has enabled major inward investment from world leading companies such as Abbott, AbbVie, Masonite, GlaxoSmithKline, Vistamed, Pfizer, and many other large multinational companies which employ thousands of people. I do not think people employed in these industries in Sligo or Leitrim would welcome the counter-motion offered by Sinn Féin today, which would put their jobs in real danger. As long as Fine Gael or any party that supports job creation in this country is in government, this 12.5% rate will remain in place and we will ensure that Ireland remains attractive for foreign direct investment.

We need to appeal this decision, as we need to defend the integrity of our revenue system. We need to restore our international reputation which has been damaged by this ruling. We need to ensure the EU does not begin to have any say in any member state's taxation policies or laws and we need to be able to continue to attract FDI into Ireland.

See this speech in context