Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is certainly not the case; I assure the House that we are not going to feature on that list. The positives will always be undermined if we only ever focus on the negatives, and it is important that we, in this House, acknowledge from time to time some of the positive things happening in this country and in the world. The "single malt" is a feature of Maltese law. It is not something we are in a position to change, but it demonstrates why we can only deal with the issue of corporate tax evasion and tax avoidance on a European level. We can change our laws as much as we like, but companies can simply move money and move their operations. We need to deal with this issue on an international basis, through the OECD, and that is how we intend to address it.

In terms of tax policy in general, the Government is absolutely committed to tax sovereignty. While we will co-operate on an international level through the OECD and with the European Union, it is our firm belief that our taxes, whether taxes on companies or on people, should be set in this House. National taxes should fund national budgets and that decision should be made by a national parliament. We should not forget that our low corporation profit tax of 12.5% has been an enormous success. It is by no means the lowest in the EU. Other countries have a lower headline rate and and effective rates than we do because of the many exceptions they have. However, the certainty Ireland provides is really important. Companies know that if they invest in Ireland, base their operations in Ireland and employ people in Ireland, there is a political consensus in favour of retaining the 12.5% tax rate. I am glad that the three major parties in this House have committed to retaining that 12.5% rate.

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