Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Try not to. It suits you. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Seanad arís agus gabhaim buíochas leis as a bheith linn anocht. Mar a dúirt an bheirt cainteoirí a chuaigh romham, ábhar thar a bheith tábhachtach é dúinn a phlé agus ba chóir dúinn comhrá a bheith againn fá dtaobh de na cúrsaí is déanaí. An rud is tábhachtaí ná go bhfuil seal againn foghlaim ó na botúin agus na meancóga atá déanta, agus is léir é sin, ó thaobh an bid de chuid an Stáit.I want to approach this topic as respectfully as I can. Before I came here tonight for these statements, which is not a debate, I thought to myself what is the point in us having statements on Ireland losing due to our bid not being drawn out of a hat. I say that very respectfully to the Minister of State and his officials who worked on what I have no doubt was a significant bid. One wonders when it comes down to something as blunt, and some would even suggest as crass, as that, what is the point in us coming here to talk about a bid that was drawn out of a hat. To reduce the bid to that level does a huge disservice to the level of input that the Minister of State and many of the officials had made to the process.

I would have liked to have seen the European Banking Authority relocate to Dublin. It may well have done a better job of keeping an eye on the banks here than our own gatekeepers have done. Ideally, I would like to see a situation where we could make an argument, campaign and bid for the facility to locate to the cities of Belfast and Derry as a result of a special status or arrangement being granted to Ireland, given the negative impact of Brexit facing the entire country. Sin scéal eile fá choinne lá éigin eile, áfach.

The potential of the European Banking Authority relocating to Ireland raised some serious questions. For example, where would the hundreds of staff live? Would we honestly be able to say that the transport links, education, health and housing are up to scratch? There was potential for 141 staff to move from floor 147 of Canary Wharf in the centre of London to Dublin. It was not a greenfield site move but where staff in an existing organisation would have to move en masse. Therefore, in any bid like this Dublin would have to demonstrate that existing transport links, schools and housing stock are up to the task of taking in a large number of families all at once.

Very often there is a lie peddled that Sinn Féin in government would be a threat to foreign direct investment. It has been said repeatedly by major companies who decide against locating to Ireland that the major obstacles are the lack of investment in social infrastructure. Instead of investing in these areas the Government recently decided to prioritise tax cuts for the well-off. A lack of infrastructure is one of the major challenges the State faces as a consequence of nearly a decade of underfunding of capital infrastructure. In light of Brexit this investment is all the more critical. The 2016 global competitiveness report ranked inadequate supply of infrastructure as the most problematic factor for doing business in Ireland. We cannot face the challenges of Brexit with such a handicap at the start. I am sure that the Minister of State recognises and appreciates that viewpoint.

As Members will know, Ireland has the fastest growing population in Europe and will continue to do so for the coming decades with the population of the island estimated to reach 10 million by the middle of the century. However, we have one of the lowest levels of capital investment in Europe. Successive EU Commission reports have highlighted infrastructure deficiencies as a threat to long-term growth. That is neither acceptable nor sustainable. The face of the under-investment can be seen in the housing and health crises, the lack of flood defences, our children being educated in prefabs and raw sewage flowing into our rivers and seas. That is not an economy that can face and survive the impact of Brexit. Now is the time to invest in our infrastructure.

With the myriad of crises we face from the lack of capital investment and the dark clouds of Brexit looming large, it is essential that we develop and support indigenous enterprises properly to safeguard the economy. The economy is very exposed if multinationals decide to relocate away from the State at any stage. The risks are clearly evident when it comes to our corporation tax receipts. The Revenue Commissioners' annual report for 2016 shows that more than 80% of the corporation tax yield comes from a small number of foreign-owned multinationals and only nine groups or companies pay almost 40% of corporation tax in Ireland.

I was surprised at the response by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to Ireland losing the bid. He called it bad luck. The Government needs to recognise that until improvements in infrastructure are made then there is no point in blaming the system or other states that do not vote for us.