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

I, too, wish to pass on my condolences to the friends and family of Tom Burke. Tom was a bright presence outside the gates of Leinster House and just a very nice person. He will be sadly missed here, although more so, obviously, by his family and friends.

I was going to address my question to the Taoiseach. I meant the Tánaiste. The co-Taoiseach, perhaps. People Before Profit is not a late convert to questioning the 12.5% corporate tax rate. We have done so from the very beginning. How does the Tánaiste morally justify the fact that for many months now, the Government has put, and continues to put, enormous energy and resources into preventing international efforts to have a minimal increase in the rate of tax on the absolutely staggering profits of some of the largest and wealthiest corporations in the world and make them pay just a little bit more tax? It seems to be willing to die in a ditch on this issue, in effect. We know that corporations are involved in aggressive tax avoidance and do not pay anything even close to the 12.5% rate but in reality pay approximately 5.5% collectively. Some of them pay far less.

Why does the Tánaiste think it is okay to try to prevent a little bit of extra tax being imposed on these staggeringly profitable corporations, but to trenchantly oppose efforts to reduce the tax burden on ordinary working people in this country? We pleaded with him last night not to impose a further tax hike through carbon taxes on ordinary working people, some of whom, such as the elderly, the vulnerable and the sick, will have to choose between food and heating their homes after the raft of energy price hikes. Now the Government is proposing to worsen that situation by imposing carbon tax hikes in the budget. Does the Tánaiste think Jeff Bezos is going to be worried about whether he should heat his home or have food? These people are making billions of euro. How does the Tánaiste think it is morally justifiable that workers in this country pay a minimum of 20% tax on their income but he does not think it is acceptable that corporations would pay the same amount in tax? Does he know, for example, that workers earned €130 billion last year and paid €27 billion in tax?

See this speech in context