David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not doubt the importance of foreign direct investment or that much of the investment in recent years has been bedded down with research and development, which is very important and will make it more sustainable. I do not doubt anything the Minister has said about the figures he has presented, even in respect of growth, although many experts would say that our growth levels in respect of gross domestic product, GDP, or gross national product, GNP, are always a bit skewed because of the very high levels of foreign direct investment. While the Minister says the Revenue Commissioners say it is sustainable and the spike has come because of the growth in the economy, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is not exactly saying that. Different views are being expressed.

While I support foreign direct investment and what it means for the economy, we are entitled to ask questions about its sustainability because of what happened in the past, when we built our public finances around unsustainable tax receipts from construction or consumption or whatever it was. People do not want to make the same mistakes again. I am not suggesting that is what the Government is doing but questions can be asked about it. I accept we have an investment fund set up by the Government but the recommendation is concerned with the potential of unexpected receipts, where they come from, whether they are one-off or long term or more sustainable. The perception, whether true or not, is that multinational companies determine how much tax they pay. There are many ways they can classify their corporation tax and so on. People will ask what is the real agenda, is it really down to growth or are there other issues at play here. The Minister spoke about the changes he made in the double Irish. I welcome them too. Is it possible to make any link between all of those issues and the spotlight put on this State in respect of corporation tax payments and the spike this year? It is a reasonable question.

If the Minister is not willing to consider establishing a sovereign wealth fund, is he saying that if the corporation tax was to increase further, there would be a possibility that some of that money could be used in the investment fund? The difficulty is that we will work off the same figures as the Minister, in terms of the fiscal space over the next five years. If there is a big jump next year in corporation tax, it will not alter the fiscal space very much. That will determine how this State spends its money. It is important, given that the economy is recovering and that so much investment was taken out of it in recent years, to reinvest in it. The investment fund was set up for that purpose but the money has to come from somewhere. If the Minister will not consider establishing a sovereign wealth fund because he already has an investment fund, is it possible that some of the corporation tax yield will be put into that investment fund?