John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

International corporate tax principles dictate that tax is paid where the value is created so this debate is not about fair tax. It is about where tax is paid. It is my opinion that to use a state-aid argument to dictate to a member state its tax policy is simply wrong. It is Commission creep into the sovereign - into our policy of taxation, which is created by those who legislate in this House and which is implemented by the Revenue Commissioners. On umpteen occasions in the past, I have heard the chairperson of the Revenue Commissioners say that the tax of 12.5% is applied fairly to all, be it large or small companies that provide varying rates of employment and that how companies then use that mismatch of national tax policy to achieve their end is a question in terms of taxation.

The Commission has been reckless in its approach to this matter. To a degree, the Government is at fault for not keeping its ear to the ground in respect of what the Commission was discussing. I understand the confidentiality of this and the activities under discussion at Commission level but surely officials from the Department of Finance or the Department of the Taoiseach should have known that something very significant was coming down the tracks because Europe is interested in destabilising our 12.5% corporation tax rate. Where they got the figure of €13.5 billion from is beyond me. We should remember that other states have a call on that €13.5 billion. Like previous speakers, I would love to allocate that money to the deserving causes that exist in every constituency throughout the country but we cannot do so. If we get €1 out of it at the end of the process, that will be it. I cannot see it going any other way after seven years of debate, legal challenges and so forth. My main concern is how the Commission could be so reckless and use the state-aid argument to come after our corporation tax rate.

Let us be clear about this. Every state in Europe is doing its best to attract foreign direct investment. They are offering all sorts of incentives. The one clear statement in terms of Ireland is that we offer a fair taxation system that is applied to all and sundry. That is the reality. Wherever the 6,000 people involved are employed, they contribute to the local community and the tax base. We are talking about 6,000 families that will be affected. Yes, it is an investment for Apple but other multinational companies in Ireland is doing the same thing. What will the Commission do next? I agree with the argument that when the banking crisis came about, not enough was done by this country to protect its interests, that we were caught flat-footed and accepted a debt that we should not have accepted and that Europe picked out the smaller countries, as it is doing now, and imposed its policy on them. It has learned nothing from Brexit. The sooner it is forced to come back to deal with a European Union that focuses on its citizens and the betterment of their lives the better. At present, it seems to be totally interested in the bureaucratic structure of Europe and how it can control states rather than having a position where states can be flexible within the application of a correct rule, in this case, on relating to taxation, and any other rule that it should apply and where Europe is there to serve its people rather than dominating and working on behalf of big countries such as Germany and France. I support the appeal on the basis that we have to do it to protect the integrity of the Revenue Commissioners, the policy of successive Governments and the jobs that have been created in every community all over this country by IDA Ireland.

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