Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I add my support to the amendment. We in Sinn Féin have been calling for this in terms of country by country reporting, which is to be welcomed, for many years. It is very much international measures which have forced the Government to move in this direction. The important part is that it would be public as stated by the previous speaker. Country by country reporting has to be public.

There is a wider issue regarding transparency. We need a public register of beneficial owners. We encounter that need as we deal with many other matters. Work has been done in respect of tax transparency and that to be welcomed. Although, as I said, country-by-country reporting is a positive step, the Government has not covered itself in glory in respect of these matters. It has been dragged into the era of tax transparency. Acceptance of the amendment would be positive.

Last year, when we proposed a similar amendment, the then Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Harris, said he had an open mind on public country-by-country reporting. Since then, however, the Government - Fine Gael supported by Fianna Fáil - took the unusual step of waving the yellow flag regarding an EU proposal to make some information relating to very large corporations public. It has always been the case that protecting the large multinationals and their tax secrecy has become a matter of national pride. It is time for the Oireachtas to make it very clear that we support tax transparency. This measure has been called for by people who are not radicals but who believe in tax transparency and in ensuring companies cannot abuse the system. The best way to so it is by means of a public register. Amendment No. 82 does exactly that, and we support it.

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