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

On the question raised earlier by Deputy Boyd Barrett in regard to multinational tax evasion, I did not discuss that issue at my meeting with Prime Minister Michel but we did discuss the issue of digital taxation and the EU Commission's proposal for a digital levy, of which Belgium is a supporter and Ireland is not because we take the view that corporation tax should be applied where value is created and profits are made and sales taxes should apply where a product or service is sold. We have a very firm position in that regard. Also, as such a levy would reduce the corporation tax revenues coming to Ireland, it is a proposal we cannot support.

On the NESC legislation, it is going ahead but it is not a legislative priority. The NESC is functioning well without that legislative change. We will do it but other Bills are taking higher priority, including, for example, the legislation around abortion and also the House Building Finance Ireland Bill, which was mentioned by Deputy Martin and which was passed at Cabinet yesterday. I am not sure if it has been published yet but it is ready for publication.

On the vacancies on the NESC, I think they have been filled. There are two sets of appointees, namely, the sectoral appointees and the independent experts who I appoint. I signed off on appointments in both regards some weeks ago. The independent experts are in the main people from an academic background. Two of them are from Ireland, one is from Northern Ireland and the other is from outside of Ireland. On the report on the property sector, I think it is a good piece of work. It is worth reading. The areas in respect of which I think it speaks most clearly are the need for a new approach to land use and land management. Government will take that on board. We propose to establish a land development agency.

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