Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 131: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide the details, if any, of any analysis carried out by him or by the Revenue Commissioners, similar to that done on high-income individuals, on the nature and extent of the use of tax reliefs and exemptions by highly profitable corporations to reduce tax liabilities and to result in the payment of corporation tax at an effective rate that is significantly lower than 12.5%; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40961/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I can confirm that the type of analysis referred to by the Deputy has not been carried out by my Department or by the Revenue Commissioners. As the Deputy will be aware, the analysis which was carried out in relation to high-income individuals arose out of particular concerns about the level of tax being paid by a number of such individuals, and as a result of which restrictions on the use of tax reliefs and exemptions by high-income individuals were introduced in Finance Act 2006 with further restrictions introduced in this year's Finance Act.

Where particular concerns have been brought to my attention about the use of tax reliefs or exemptions by companies, I have introduced legislative restrictions where appropriate to address those concerns. Large profit-making companies have contributed significantly to corporation tax revenues in recent years. In 2009, for example, total corporation tax payments by the top 100 companies amounted to just under €3 billion or 76 per cent of the total corporation tax yield.