Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have closed a loophole in respect of stateless companies.

I read the Coffey report. We are closing some of the loopholes in respect of intellectual property. That was in the budget and will be addressed in the Finance Bill tomorrow. A very good report to read for anyone interested in this area is the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General from a number of weeks ago. It contained two take- away messages for me. Even though we have a low corporate profit tax rate in Ireland, we take in a lot of corporation profit tax and revenue compared to other countries. That has proved that our policy works. Having a low tax rate brings in more revenue. That may not always be true, but it is in this instance. Countries with higher corporation profit tax rates bring in less revenue. That is proof that our policy works and attracts enterprise. We take in more revenue than countries with higher rates.

Even though there are many ways to calculate the effective tax rate, it is interesting to note that when one compares Ireland with other countries we are taking in more corporation profit tax than countries such as France, which are critical of Ireland. It takes in less because while it might have a higher rate on paper, it has so many exceptions, incentives and loopholes that it takes in less. Countries which are critical of our tax policy will be reminded of that in my conversations with them. It is good to have documentary data to back up what I am saying.

We are not ruling out giving the Central Bank additional powers. It is worth pointing out that additional powers were given to it in 2013 but, unfortunately, are not and probably cannot be made retrospective. What was done to those holding tracker mortgages was done prior to 2013. We are not ruling out new measures or powers for the Central Bank. I ask Deputies to be aware of the limits of retrospectivity in legislation.

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