Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The country is taking a reputational hit in two areas of the economy. The first area, precarious jobs, makes a mockery of the republic of opportunity and highlights the Government's failure for months to publish the report on bogus self-employment. The second area, corporation tax, is causing serious reputational damage to the country. The Revenue Commissioners admit that certain large corporations, which are global in scale, do not pay any corporation tax. In addition, four banks, including Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks, announced last week that they are sharing tax loss assets of €5.5 billion between them. Will the Taoiseach accept that Ireland needs a new narrative on corporation tax? We need a minimum effective corporation tax rate. We must also address the use of losses and loopholes by institutions such as banks.

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