David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Will the Leader consider a debate on Nos. 9 and 11, which are non-Government motions? They concern the massacre of people in Iran in 1988. I think there was general agreement in the House that this was an important issue.

I return to the issue raised by Senator Devine, namely, the Oxfam report released yesterday. It is a devastating report because it exposes the world's worst tax havens. Ireland is at No. 6, which is pretty staggering. When one considers that developing countries lose out on $100 billion annually, it is pretty serious. Countries like Ireland provide incentives and loopholes for multinational corporations in a way that is extremely damaging. There are two main reasons Ireland is on the list. First, it facilitates large-scale corporate tax avoidance and, second, it has not implemented any effective rules to prevent this. The allowance of inward profit sharing by US multinational corporations is an estimated €93 billion of excess profits.This is an extraordinary figure and we are allowing this to on under the guise of silence. In addition, Ireland has produced no data or research to demonstrate it has made any effective attempts to address this situation. It has also failed to support country-by-country reporting through the European Union. This would make a huge difference because multinational corporations produce a global account system that does not indicate the countries in which the profits are actually generated. They are then chiselled out of their due rights. I put this in the context of the statement by the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, on 7 September this year that we are a strong supporter of tax transparency, that administrative co-operation is a key factor in tackling the global problems of tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning and that the core principle underpinning this work is that tax should be paid where economic activity takes place. I agree absolutely but let us see some action on it. These are fine words but the behaviour of the Irish Government contradicts them. If we are cleaner than clean, why is it that Brazil has ruled that Ireland is a very low tax or no-tax country? This effectively adds us to those countries on its tax haven blacklist. This is a very important matter that deserves discussion in Seanad Éireann.