Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. It is fair to say companies headquartered in the United States employ tens of thousands of Irish people directly and indirectly. They are major contributors to our economy and wider society. That is why it is important that for decades, taoisigh and Ministers have made it a policy to visit regularly and maintain contact with these companies at the highest level.

The Taoiseach visited many companies which have been in Ireland for quite a long time on his trip to the west coast, including Microsoft, Amazon and Apple, among others. The consistent policy Ireland has had over recent decades is an important one and speaks to an industrial policy which, over four decades ago, was about making Ireland an open country which exported but also attracted foreign direct investment which acted as a catalyst to promote Irish-owned companies. I do not believe we should lose sight of that amid the commentary on tax issues.

I am somewhat taken aback that the Taoiseach did not have any detailed tax discussions with any of the company representatives he met and that there was only the briefest discussion with Apple representatives on tax matters generally. I am not talking about specific tax issues with each company but rather the European Union tax policy, which will affect companies, and the US tax policy. It is incorrect to say that it is just a matter for the EU. It is clearly a matter for Ireland and is fundamental to our corporate tax strategy in terms of attracting foreign direct investment. President Obama had radical proposals while he was campaigning. When I was Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, we put people into the embassy to monitor what was going on in terms of politics in Washington and to make sure we could get a proper read on what was likely to come through in terms of policy proposals and what the impact would be on our own inward investment strategies.

The Taoiseach has said that he is keeping an active watch on tax proposals in Washington. Will he give the House his analysis of the proposals which have passed the House of Representatives and have now been reported out of committee in the Senate?

Commissioner Moscovici has in recent days started an aggressive new approach to changing tax rules. He has done this without publishing a single piece of paper on impacts or economic justification for these actions. These measures are separate from the digital taxation measures already promoted. Has the Taoiseach demanded the publication of impact studies before such proposals are considered? It is simply unacceptable that a serious proposal has been launched and promoted at European Commission level without even the most basic economic studies being undertaken on its impact.

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