Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The amendment proposes a report on the Act. It is my intention, which I stated on Committee Stage, to lay a post-enactment scrutiny note 12 months after the enactment, in line with Standing Orders of the House. There will be a report, therefore. I am not in a position to prescribe what will be in that report before it is prepared but the gist of what is being said, and I referred to this on Committee Stage, is that the OECD BEPS project developed 15 actions designed to equip Government with domestic and international rules and instruments to address tax avoidance, ensuring that profits are taxed where economic activities generating the profits are performed and where value is created. That is an underlying principle and Ireland has a strong record in taking action on these issues. These include the progress being made on the OECD BEPS process, along with the scheduled updating of the corporation tax roadmap, which will be published shortly before the end of this year.

The lobbying on this Bill was mentioned, as if that was something that should never happen. I have just come through the Finance Bill and the budget and I can hardly think of a voluntary organisation that did not lobby. Lobbying is part of life. We live in an open democracy-----