Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise an issue in the context of the Finance Bill, namely, the double Irish tax loophole. It was announced in 2015 that this loophole was to be closed to new companies. According to a publication last week, Google Ireland, which has until 2020 to continue using the same format because it was an existing company in 2015, paid €164 million in tax in 2016. But for the double Irish, it would have had to pay €1.1 billion, meaning that 85% of was forgone.

In 2017, it paid €171 million. Were it not for the double Irish, it would have had to pay €1.6 billion. This means we are seeing a significant amount of tax forgone by these major multinational companies. Google is one example. There are numerous other companies in the same position. Hard-pressed workers feel they are overtaxed for the services they receive yet these corporations are getting away with significant tax breaks in the Finance Bill. Will the Government close the double Irish now for existing companies?

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