Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

At an earlier stage of the debate I praised the work of Christian Aid in regard to bringing this back into the public debate. The Irish Timescarried the story prominently and it would not be the first time The Irish Timeshas reported on the issue of the single malt, although not giving it that title. More than a year ago, on 8 November 2016, the Minister's predecessor was before the European Parliament. At that time, my colleague, Matt Carthy, MEP, put to him very clearly that not only was he not closing the double Irish quickly enough, and we heard about the tail that is allowed until 2020, but that there is availability to companies within our tax code to continue using that type of structure and this is because our network of tax treaties overrides domestic law. Despite the change to the legislation which ended an automatically-created tax residency for companies here despite their claims they were managed and controlled in another jurisdiction, wherever we have a tax treaty with a country that still calculates tax residency on the basis of management and control, that would override on this issue. Those countries include Malta, where the title "single malt" comes from, but also include Panama, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Netherlands and Belgium, which are other vehicles that could be used in this regard, given the double taxation tax treaties we have with those jurisdictions.

It was interesting that when Matt Carthy put that to the Minister's predecessor, his response was that this was very unpatriotic and he should wear the green jersey. That was the former Minister's response to the fact there is a major loophole, whether intentional or unintentional, in our tax code that has allowed large companies to continue to use the double Irish. The Minister's predecessor has acknowledged the reputational damage this has done to Ireland. He was not really concerned about losing tax revenue and all the rest, but about the reputational damage. Let there be no doubt that, as we close one loophole and create another door, or do not close the door, this reputational damage is going to continue.

Christian Aid has identified that, for example, four multinationals are using the single malt and it names one of them as being Microsoft. I am not sure if that is the case or not. I am sure Christian Aid's information is solid and I understand the company has not distanced itself from that claim.

The real question is what the Government is going to do about it. The other point is that this is not new, which is the point I have been trying to make. We have been raising the issue of the double taxation treaties and the fact the double Irish has not been closed and is continuing to be availed of. As I said, when Matt Carthy raised this at the European Commission, the response from the then Minister was a typical response from him, if the House does not mind me saying it, namely, the only problem with the double Irish is that it has the word "Irish" in it. It was a case of, "We cannot end the issue of stateless companies because it is about Americans and other jurisdictions". It is always this defensive, "nothing to see here" approach.

Deputy Mick Wallace is 100% right. This is quite technical stuff. It is probably a failing of those of us on the Opposition benches but if we were able to articulate this in such a way that the public understood what is actually going on here, there would be massive anger at the Government. It is unbelievable what is happening. It is not a case of the Government having a look at this to see what is happening. The Government knew well this was going on for a couple of years. This is the standard response of Government, namely, to continue until it comes to a point where pressure is heaped on and it then acts in the smallest way. Then, when it does act, it has the brass neck to stand up and say, "Look at us. Aren't we great? Didn't we end the double Irish? Didn't we end the stateless companies? Didn't we do this and that?", while forgetting all about this type of session, where myself and others have been basically demanding that the Government does this before we lose our international reputation.

I am proud of my country, I love my country, but I do not love some of the stuff that is happening in my country. I do not like the fact we are being criticised internationally, and they are right, in regard to how our tax code is allowing companies to abuse international tax practice. This is not just about us losing revenue; this robs everybody, including the Third World. It robs services, resources and revenue and it creates additional wealth for those at the very top, those at the peak.

The Minister has facilitated this. It is State-sponsored tax avoidance signed into law by the Minister, Deputy Donohoe. He can sign it out of law, which is what I am asking him to do.

We need to get to grips with some of this issue. We dealt with it before - we do not need the €850 million in tax, so just leave it to one side because it would affect the likes of Apple and so on. What of the section 110 companies and loan originators? Do not worry about that - we are getting €250, which is better than nothing, and they employ 43 people down the road. Forget the fact that they are making millions of euro in profit lending to Irish society. The Minister does not want us to focus on this issue because it has been standard practice in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil for a long while, but it is time to call a halt. International pressure will continue to be put on this country and we will lose other battles as a result.

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