Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I support my colleague Senator Craughwell 100% on the need for a proper full and frank debate on the HPV vaccine. The experience he outlined is the same as the one I have had in my community where young girls are extremely unwell for no reason whatsoever after receiving the HPV vaccine. They are unable to participate in their education or fully in society. I want to have that debate in the House. I am appalled by the attempts to discredit the parents and the young girls who have come forward to set out their experiences.

I want to raise the issue of Cerberus only paying €1,900 in taxes on profits of over €77 million. The era of vulture funds operating virtually tax-free must end. During the debate on the Finance Bill in the Dáil my colleagues made efforts to have inserted amendments which would have forced the Government to report every 12 months on exactly how much the vulture funds' creative use of existing Irish tax law had cost the Exchequer. I asked the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, the exact same question several months ago during the dialogue at the economic forum, but he refused to answer. One of the loopholes to avoid paying tax on Irish property assets sees tax-free rent and gains for those who hold Irish property in a fund that derives under 25% of its value from Irish property and tax-free gains when Irish property is held for over five years by widely held funds. There is something unsettling about learning about the Cerberus tax bill in a national newspaper this morning. While many will point out that it is perfectly legal, I wonder how many would still hold that view if they were presented with a figure annually that showed the huge profits made and the minute taxes paid on them. An overall figure showing the loss to the Exchequer would focus minds. I look forward to the Finance Bill being brought before the Seanad this week and would like to see this morning's story act as a wake-up call to use the new dynamics in the House to highlight what remains to be done in legislation to close the loopholes. I will be bringing forward amendments in an attempt to shut the remaining loopholes. There is no point in people decrying such loopholes and the immoral figures earned while failing to support amendments to shut the same loopholes.