Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Government may fall over which Ministers knew what in connection with the emails in regard to Maurice McCabe and so on. This, in my opinion, is an even bigger scandal and, at the very least, it needs to be investigated. It is inexplicable that the then Minister, Deputy Noonan, in 2014 changed the tax code around intangible assets to essentially neutralise the impact of closing down the double Irish tax scam. One tax scam closed down and another one opened, directly as a result of a decision made by Deputy Noonan and the Government which has not been explained. To get an 80% allowance on these intangible assets is extraordinary, in and of itself, but to get 100%, and for the former Minister to make that decision in 2014, is unbelievable.

For the current Minister, similarly, having recognised that this needs to be changed, to then make a decision not to ensure that we collect an extra €800 million a year, and to essentially exempt the claims from before budget day, is extraordinary and, again, the only beneficiary can be Apple and that small group of corporations. They designed this and the Minister has danced to their tune. Hundreds of millions are being lost which people desperately need in this country for housing and health. That is what this exposes. At the very least, we want a thorough investigation so all of the facts can be laid out before the people and they can judge what was lost, why decisions were made and whether it is, as I believe, one of the biggest scandals, if not the biggest scandal, it is possible to imagine in this country in terms of people having tax revenues stolen from them.

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