Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leader for outlining the business. There are reports of Dublin City Council being involved in making protection payments. While the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, said that he only heard of it yesterday, it was referred to in a court case by the Criminal Assets Bureau. The Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, seems to have known about this for quite some time. I am fairly sure that if I was sitting where Senator Buttimer is and he was over here, he would wonder how the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, did not communicate with the Minister at the time, Deputy Coveney, or with the current Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, about her concerns. I know the relationship may not be perfect but it is important that the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, and the Ministers, Deputies Coveney and Eoghan Murphy, come into this House. Dublin City Council has denied it. I am not saying it happened but it is certainly being reported in a court case. It is a serious story and it is important that we have more knowledge about who knew what. I do not think anyone in this Chamber would support the payment of protection money to gangs or support extortion. It is important that we have a statement from the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, about who knew what and when. I would appreciate that.

Next week's European Council meeting contains much about EU reform. I would like the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, or the Minister, Deputy Coveney, to come into the House and outline the Government's approach to EU reform. On a similar but not exactly the same vein, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, is reported about in yesterday's Financial Times. A tweet came from its economics editor, stating:

Bad news for tax havens, Ireland, Luxembourg and big multinationals

Good news for almost everyone else

We clearly get a lot of corporation tax from big tech companies and it is very beneficial to the State. The more that we have, the more we can do with it, but we need to plan for changes that may happen in the global tax environment, through the OECD, which I have attended a number of times as a member of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach. Pressure is being applied and if we lose any of that corporation tax, we will have to find a way to plug that hole. It is important that we invite the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, to tell us what his approach to the OECD is. He is a very measured individual and I know that he will be able to outline to us what he plans to do. We should all be concerned about having less revenue in the uncertain times ahead.

Insurance continues to be a significant problem for play centres and crèches. Vast amounts of money are paid out for what seem to be minor injuries in many cases. I would like the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, to come to the House soon to outline what is being done. Work may be getting done but we are still seeing insurance claims and substantial pay-outs at a significant cost to society generally.