Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Leas-Cheann Comhairle on her election. It is a great result. There is no doubt that she has a very good track record in chairing the proceedings of the Dáil in a very fair manner. I have no doubt that she will continue like that and I wish her well personally and professionally.

There has been much talk about a victory for Ireland after the judgment of the General Court. However, it has to be accepted that this is a Pyrrhic victory for the taxpayers of Ireland and, indeed, the taxpayers of several other European countries. There are several reasons for this. It is the public purse that loses out from this result. We all have a right to expect a fair system of tax on corporate profits and to expect these taxes to be paid to Revenue. A basic issue of fairness and transparency arises here. If there was a fair system, the €13 billion in question in this case would have been paid into the public purse in Ireland and other countries.

The impact of the loss of that tax money is very significant, especially where our public services are concerned. We know that public services are crying out for adequate investment. We have developed a system and a reputation for treating multinational companies very well. That is fine, and we get a lot of high-quality jobs from foreign direct investment. However, there is a price to be paid for that. Our tax receipts are inadequate to funding proper public services. Our experience with Covid-19 in recent months has exposed the weaknesses of all of our public services and the crying need for investment to bring them up to modern European standards. Our public health service and our system of childcare lags a long way behind those of our European neighbours. That, in turn, puts a huge burden on people living in this State. It also reduces our competitiveness and adds to wage demands. There is a price to be paid domestically for our very generous corporation tax system. It is a very heavy price.

It is not just people who live in Ireland and struggle to deal with the high cost of living who say that, or the many working people who have to shell out for basic public services that citizens and other European countries assume as a matter of right. The business community increasingly says it cannot attract people to come back to Ireland to take up jobs because of the high cost of living. Businesses make particular reference to the high cost of housing, childcare and healthcare. These add to wage demands and reduce our competitiveness.

Moreover, the favourable treatment of multinationals shows a very significant lack of fairness when compared with our treatment of domestic small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs. This unfair treatment is wrong. It makes it very hard for our domestic SMEs to compete. We now know that Apple paid a 0.005% tax rate on the profits in question. That amounts to a tax of 5 cent on every €1,000 of profit. It is a real slap in the face for Irish taxpayers and SMEs. Even if the General Court has found that it was legal not to tax profits at a fair rate, it is clearly morally wrong that a global multinational can strategically manage its tax affairs so as to pay so little and was facilitated in doing so by our Government.

The Irish economy should aim to compete for foreign direct investment at the higher end of the value chain, where investment can be predicated less on our tax system than on the agility and innovation of our workforce.

The issue at the heart of this case and many corporate tax questions is tax justice and transparency, as well as solidarity with our EU partners. If the public is to trust in politics and government, transparency and integrity must be the defining features of all decision-making. Transparency is especially important when it comes to Ireland's corporate tax rate, which, as a result of this tax case, has become the subject of heightened scrutiny throughout the world. The judgment may very well be appealed by the European Commission to the European Court of Justice, bringing further scrutiny of Ireland's historical tax treatment of Apple and continuing to cast an unfavourable light on Ireland's reputation regarding tax matters. The judgment makes clear that it is up to Ireland's politicians to put in place a corporate tax system that is fair and just. Our corporate tax system continues to attract scrutiny and criticism from our European partners. Reform should be pursued to ensure fair taxation and to rebuild our international reputation.

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