John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council suggested that somewhere between €3 billion and €6 billion of corporation tax receipts could be considered in excess. What figure does the Minister regard as in excess?

The Minister mentioned broadening the tax base, but the reality is that everything accounted for by the increase in corporation tax revenue has already been spent on current expenditure or an increased capital budget. Therein lies the challenge. How do we roll back from that? It was a significant increase. If there is a shock to the economy the reduction in corporation tax revenue might be very quick. It might not be phased in over several years. It is important that we deal with it. I am specifically interested in the range of €3 billion to €6 billion. How much of that does the Minister regard as in excess?

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