Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I raise an issue that has been raised by a couple of my colleagues in the House and I call on the Minister to come to the House as soon as possible. There is great concern about the inversion deals and companies, as has been alluded to, using Ireland as a base for tax reasons only. I know there has been some limitation in America to try to stop some of these inversion deals but the figures are really mind-boggling. They tell us that we have 26.3% growth. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, said yesterday that the real growth was closer to 7%. If that is the case, 80% of that growth, or four fifths of our economy, is a false economy. As has been outlined, the main reason for that are the aviation and leasing companies operating out of Ireland. It would be brilliant if they were providing some jobs. However, the serious problem I have is that about two weeks ago, a leading aviation expert said in one of the national papers that 1,000 jobs are directly contributed by the newly-formed aviation leasing companies in our country and that another 1,000 jobs are associated with that. It is 80% of our GDP and we have gotten only 2,000 jobs out of it. The tax figure is minuscule, or so they are telling us at present. That is nobody's fault and nobody is doing anything wrong in that regard. They are bulking up on stock and whatever else. However, we are not seeing any benefit to the real economy.

Our corporation tax has been a huge help to the country. It has certainly been a great help in bringing jobs and growth to the country. However, this is something that we will have to look at. Whether it is a minimum tax rate related to the turnover of these companies or something else, a mechanism will have to be put in place to ensure that this sector gives real help to the country.