Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Okay. However, many of the companies that the Deputy is arguing should pay an even higher level of tax on top of the major change that Ireland has already committed to making employ as workers the people that the Deputy referred to and correctly acknowledged. I want those workers in Ireland. I want that investment in Ireland. To move forward with a further increase in the taxation of any company on top of what we are doing in entering an OECD agreement would be a danger to the jobs and investment in our country.

Regarding the figures that Deputy Boyd Barrett cited in making his case to me, he made the point that gross profits amounted to €203.8 billion. However, the same table concludes that the taxable income of the companies is €106.4 billion. Given that this is a debate that the Deputy and I have had for years, I know the next line in his argument is that he will describe as mostly tax avoidance the change between €203.8 billion and €106.4 billion. I would say that it was due to the use of allowances that form a normal part of corporate tax codes all over the world. If we begin with a starting point of €104.6 billion, then a payment of €10.9 billion in tax over that taxable income is an effective tax rate of 10.2%. While it is lower than our current 12.5%, it is still closer enough to it than using the larger profit base of €203.8 billion.

To indicate at this time that Ireland was going to do more than the OECD agreement in terms of how we tax larger companies would be dangerous for our economy. As I understand it, Deputy Boyd Barrett would not just extend Deputy Healy-Rae's tax proposal to larger companies. Rather, he would extend it to any company that paid corporate tax, which includes a whole range of Irish SMEs that employ workers he is representing and for whom he is making a case. That would be a danger to our economy.

Regarding the point that Deputy Healy-Rae advocated, there are many SMEs that have profits of more than €1.5 million per year. The relief that they gained when they found out that they would not be paying 15% would quickly dissipate if they discovered that they were going to be paying a higher rate of tax, the nature of which has not yet been made clear by the Deputy.