Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

These points stand on their own merits. The Senator spoke about sovereignty but as a sovereign nation we have to have control over our tax laws. Apple was in compliance with the tax laws that were in place at the time in question. The European Commission now states that the taxes in question may be due to other countries in Europe and the US.

I question the timing of the European Commission's announcement, whether it is to do with the US elections or something else. I question the fact that the decision has not been published. We expect it to be a carbon copy of the June 2014 decision so nothing appears to have changed in the past two years. There will be confidentiality issues but I ask for it to be published as quickly as possible. We are a small, open economy and we have to be able to attract multinational companies in a global market. We have a 12.5% corporation tax rate that is probably the most transparent corporation tax rate in the world. France and other countries have a multitude of tax deals with particular corporations. The difference between the profits and the taxable profits of a company in Ireland is very little.