Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have listened attentively to what Senator Craughwell said. I already described the recent reviews and research into taxation matters by the Department of Finance. Perhaps it would be more appropriate now to outline some of the incentives that have been undertaken this year. For example, the development of a new small and medium-sized enterprise, SME, focused share-based remuneration scheme was announced in the budget for 2017 and is scheduled to be introduced in the budget for 2018. A public consultation has been conducted by the Department of Finance as part of the development process and engagement with the EU to ensure compliance with state aid requirements and this will also be undertaken.

Also, in line with the established practice of carrying out periodic reviews of key areas of tax policy, the Minister for Finance has announced in the budget that a review of Ireland's corporation tax code would be undertaken by an independent group, led by the economist, Mr. Seamus Coffey. Since the review in 2014 there have been significant changes in the international tax environment, including new legislative proposals in the feed of company taxation from the European Union and the ongoing Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, base erosion and profit shifting initiative as well. In this context it is timely and prudent to carry out a review of the corporation tax code to take into account these recent developments. Terms of reference were published in the 2017 budget book. I would note also that during the Dáil Committee Stage debate on the Finance Bill 2016, it was indicated that the Minister for Finance had asked Mr. Coffey to examine the strong performance of corporation tax receipts, evident since 2015. Accordingly, this will also form part of the review itself, which is important.

The examples I have cited demonstrate that detailed taxation research is effectively continuous and is given high priority by the Minister for Finance and his officials, given the challenging times we have at the moment. I will take on board the Senator's views and will convey to the Minister for Finance the issues he raised in his supplementary question.