Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the debate today as it gives a chance for the public to hear the finer details beyond the headline grabbing slogans we have seen over the past number of days. The Minister, the Taoiseach and a number of Deputies have outlined already the broader context within which this €13 billion sits. This issue is not just about the €13 billion, this is about a fundamental pillar of the Irish economy, a pillar that has yielded so many positives for this State and its current generations. We have to be very much aware of who is watching this debate. I guess that it is not only workers and decision makers in current organisations situated in Ireland are watching this, but also potential investors who are in the process of making a decision on Ireland are watching closely. We need to be very careful of the language we use so as not to harm the international marketability and reputation of Ireland as a place in which to invest and subsequently create jobs.

I speak as a person who has worked in the private sector all my adult life. Not only have I worked directly for a multinational but I have also worked for a small indigenous company which was a service provider to multinationals for many years. I want to send the message today that I want foreign direct investment to continue coming to Ireland. I want them to invest here. We have a highly educated work force, industrial stability, strong infrastructure, access to the Common Market and a competitive tax rate. This has been fostered and developed over a period of time from the hard economic lessons learned by past generations. Like any other discipline the more successful we are at it the better we become, thus beating the competition. Obviously competition will always be present and I also welcome it as it forces us to do our jobs better and to continue to innovate. However, I do not welcome the European Commission's agenda in trying to bring about a common tax base and erode Ireland's competitiveness.

I embrace the ideals of the European movement. It has fulfilled its objective in fostering economic co-operation and focusing on similarities thus sustaining the longest term of peace the Continent has ever seen. However, we are a sovereign nation and I respect that above all. I campaigned and voted for both Lisbon treaties in the assurance that our corporation tax was not part of the agenda and could not be compromised or changed by an outside European authority. Through the economic depravity of years gone by Ireland was forced to rethink its economic vision.

The vision in the 1980s and 1990s became increasingly outward-looking and was targeted at foreign direct investment. This was a no-brainer. We had to do it. We must remember that, in economic terms, Ireland in the early 1990s was worlds apart from where it is today. I remember entering senior cycle in school to be told that my options were the Civil Service, to stay in college for as long as I could afford to do so or to emigrate. The private sector's appeal and attraction were very much off the table. However, by the time I started college in the mid-1990s, all that had changed - and for the better - due to the influx of multinationals as a result of tax, social partnership and educational policies.

The University of Limerick was born as the National Institute of Higher Education Limerick, which was built in Plassey Technological Park as a provider of an educated workforce to the multinational electronic manufacturing companies that were situated there at the time. That development worked. It did so against the backdrop of increased competition from emerging economies in Europe, including those to the east of as a result of the revolt against communism and the hard-left administrations and policies in situat the time. More and more companies located in Ireland and there were more jobs and better opportunities, which fostered new industrial innovation and confidence and increased self-belief among the members of a new generation who were better educated. Education was one of the major positives to come from these companies and the new economy. This cannot be stated often enough and it has been a huge by-product of foreign direct investment. It changed the face of Ireland. I know so many people in Limerick who have been given the opportunity to study as part of their job and to gain qualifications and access opportunities that they would never got if they had not been in that position. These are people who, for myriad reasons, may not have had the opportunity to avail of education in their early lives. This, in turn, has permitted and fostered innovation and creativity. Countless times today, I heard the indigenous company being pitched against the multinational but how many of these smaller indigenous companies have been formed out of knowledge, experience and networks acquired from working for the multinationals?

I could discuss this issue here for the next half hour but I will conclude by saying that the Government has my full backing. Workers in these multinationals on the manufacturing lines and in accounts departments, those serving in the canteens and those in human resources, engineering, stores or the warehouses have my unequivocal support in helping secure their jobs, futures and increased opportunities and education by continuing to attract and retain the type of companies for which they work. Recruiters, bartenders, delicatessen assistants, childminders and taxi drivers making a living from the customer working for the multinational company have my unequivocal support in sustaining their jobs and customers. I want to tell the international investors who are looking at investing and who are watching this debate to come to Ireland. We offer an English-speaking and educated workforce, industrial stability, access to the Single Market and a very competitive corporation tax rate of 12.5%. There is a reason why other companies are situated here and every time they have relocated, we have learned to make the transition and start-up as seamless as possible. We have the expertise to do this. We need to continue this investment. Please let us not go back to the 1980s.

See this speech in context