Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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80. To ask the Minister for Finance if he has conducted a risk analysis of the concentration of corporation tax receipts having risen sharply in recent years, with over 40% paid by ten companies in 2015, up from 21% in 2009 and that in 2015 corporation tax from the top ten companies amounted to over 6% of total tax revenue, approximately the same proportion of total tax revenue accounted for by stamp duty in 2007; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16436/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The concentration risk regarding corporation tax receipts was examined as part of the Economic Impact Assessment of Ireland's Corporation Tax Policy, a significant piece of research that was commissioned and undertaken by my Department over the course of 2014, resulting in the publication of eight  reports as part of Budget 2015.

Included in this research was the report Note on the Context and Concentration of Corporation Tax Receipts, which quantified the fiscal contribution of the corporate sector to the Irish Exchequer in terms of Corporation Tax receipts. This analysis confirmed that since 2008 corporation tax payments have been heavily concentrated among large companies, particularly multi-nationals, and that this concentration has increased over time, demonstrating that the exporting multinational sector performed better during the recession than the domestic sector and SMEs generally. The overall policy conclusions reflected on the concentrated level of Corporation Tax receipts in general and how this creates a policy challenge in Ireland.

Another more recent example of is in Budget 2016, where my Department highlighted the risks that underpin the concentration of Corporation Tax receipts.  This time, the risks specifically related to the forecasting of Corporation Tax receipts, and noted that company specific factors could have large implications for the overall Corporation Tax yield.

On the most recent increase in Corporation Tax receipts, the Revenue Commissioners recently undertook and published their analysis, which can be viewed at the following link: .