Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have long been successful in attracting FDI, particularly through the work of IDA Ireland and by offering low corporation tax rates and other questionable tax incentives to foreign companies. In fact, we overly rely on FDI. Our economy is over-reliant on a small number of multinational corporations in the context of the tax take. Some 45% of the total corporation tax take for 2018 came from just ten companies, which shows how vulnerable the State would be if those companies were to jump ship.

I was interested to hear the Minister state that the average wage of a job created by IDA Ireland is €66,000 per annum because I found it hard to get that sort of information from IDA Ireland. I wrote to the latter seeking clarification seeking clarification on pay scales for employees in its client companies and was told that such information is not available. I was not seeking any personal or private details, I was looking for broad information on the pay scales to get an idea of the quality of the jobs being provided by IDA Ireland client companies. I do not see why this information would be denied to me. There is a difference between looking for the average wage and looking for the pay scales. Can the Minister explain why this difficulty is there and whether she stands over it? These companies are given funding by IDA Ireland so I do not see why they would not release information of that sort.

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