Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy referred to the European Commission and its views on taxation. Our views are clear on the matter. I outlined them earlier on in response to Deputy Michael McGrath. I do not foresee any circumstances in which the ability of our State to set our corporation tax rate in the way we do so at the moment will be affected by the proposals from the European Commission.

More broadly, all of this debate emphasises the need to have an economy that has many sources of growth, as opposed to the single source of growth in the period leading up to the crash, which was construction, supported by our banking sector. It is a further reason to take all the steps we can to make our national finances as resilient as possible, where we reduce the need for our State to borrow and have our national debt on a path where it is beginning to fall.

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