Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move recommendation No. 5:

In page 112, after line 42, to insert the following:

“Report on “double Irish” tax scheme

29. The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before the Oireachtas a report on the options available to end the transition period for companies availing of the double Irish sooner than 2020.”.

It was with much fanfare that Fine Gael announced the closing of the double Irish and we know now that another window was opened through the intangible assets write-off but even without that, companies were given until 2020 to use the double Irish. The inevitable is now happening as we find out how much that is costing us. New EU rules on transparency allow us to see the cost and, to quote from recent articles, the figures for Google Ireland Holdings, the parent company of Google Ireland and a string of other locally incorporated firms, include $14.5 billion in untaxed profits from last year, on a turnover of $22.3 billion. This was an increase on the $8.9 billion profit the company declared in 2016 on the turnover of $17.6 billion. At the standard Irish rate of 12.5% corporation tax, the company's 2017 tax bill would have stood at more than $1.8 billion, or €1.6 billion at current exchange rates, while the tally for 2016 would have come to €1.1 billion.

Doubtless other companies are using this ongoing loophole and it is within the power of the Minister to change the date so that this is the last year we will be subsidising these billion dollar companies. My question to the Minister of State is whether he will do so.