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

I agree it is wide-ranging, but these tax expenditures and tax reliefs are the dirty great secret of the Irish economic story. They must be examined forensically to see if money being handed back to corporations in allowances and deductions should be invested in public infrastructure and public services. Consider the jump in trading profits from 2014 to 2015. They go from €98 billion to €149 billion in one year. It is a massive jump. How much were the deductions and allowances for this record level of rocketing profits? There was €66 billion in allowances of various types and various deductions of €30 billion. There was €149 billion in profits but almost €100 billion in loopholes. The income that is taxed, therefore, is a fraction of the profits being made. These loopholes are research and development tax credits, tax credits related to intangible assets, loopholes related to intergroup transfers, losses forward so the banks do not pay any tax, capital allowances and a range of others. Will the Minister close some of these or at least examine their value for money?

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