Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I want to press the amendment. I am not satisfied Revenue has sufficient resources to actually go after the disclosures relating to Ireland that I am quite sure are within the Panama papers. Ireland is not an offshore tax haven, although there are many in this House who would claim it is. We have tax law which is enforced in this country and that is critically important, particularly given people who may be hostile to Ireland's interests are often anxious to portray it as some kind of a tax haven. It is very important that we address issues like this and that we use the work of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on the Panama papers.

I would like an assurance from the Minister that Revenue has sufficient resources. Tracking what has been disclosed by the papers is quite detailed work but other countries have taken rapid action and it has yielded a very interesting haul of defaulters in a whole range of fields. Given that people buy international tax arrangements which involve fraud, evasion and malpractice, as the Minister has said, I think the House deserves an assurance from the Minister that Revenue will have sufficient resources to go after this. Certainly, for law-abiding taxpayers in this country, it will be an enormous comfort that people who have been avoiding paying their fair share will from now on contribute properly.

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