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

The facts speak for themselves. Irish universities have tumbled further down the international rankings. Why? As the professors of those universities explain, our teacher to student ratio in the universities is now rising to 1:20 as against 1:10 in China, for example.

A few buildings might be built but teachers must be employed and registration fees that are blocking people from going into third level must be removed. That requires more money going in but instead, €708 million in tax loopholes is given to a small number of multinational corporations. The incredible €20 billion in losses brought forward whereby banks pay no tax and the intangible assets where the big multinational corporations essentially siphon off profits into offshore tax havens facilitated by this country can be added to that list. It is absolutely shocking. Why does the Government not have a minimum effective corporate tax rate where these corporations pay the 12.5% that would release billions to put into our universities, housing, water infrastructure and so many other things that need real investment?

See this speech in context