Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It is a cop-out to say the issue of tax avoidance needs international solutions alone. Yes, it does need them, but it also needs us in Ireland to close the loopholes which Governments have created, including the double Irish in 1991 and the changes to the capital allowance arrangements which the Taoiseach's Government introduced just last year. This greed fuelled quest to pay no tax is, of course, not victimless, of which the Taoiseach must be aware. The victims are small and medium enterprises - indigenous industries which are tax compliant and which do not have access to the tax avoidance advice available to multinational companies. Compliant taxpayers are also victims. They are denied adequate funding for the provision of public services owing to the reduced revenue base.

The Taoiseach says the intellectual property arrangement has been closed. It has been closed but not before Apple was allowed a ten-year break as a result of the changes made last year. The Comptroller and Auditor General recently noted that the cost of capital allowances had doubled between 2014 and 2015. How much of this was due to Apple's restructuring? How can we allow one company to completely dominate and distort the national accounts? The Taoiseach is answerable for this. He is the leader of the Government and must answer for what his Government has done.

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