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LEADING CATHOLIC BISHOPS from 11 countries, including Ireland, have urged the leaders of the G8 nations to use their meeting this month to clamp down on tax avoidance by multinational corporations.
The leaders of the eight countries – the UK, the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan – are meeting in Fermanagh in two weeks’ time, with aggressive tax avoidance and tax evasion likely to feature high on the agenda.
In a letter to the eight leaders, the leading bishops from Ireland and the participant nations said the Catechism of the Catholic Church determined that individuals were morally obliged to pay taxes and to submit to authority.
“It is a moral obligation for citizens to pay their fair share of taxes for the common good,” they wrote, arguing that the same logic applied to corporate bodies.
States had an obligation to provide “a reasonable and fair application of taxes” with “precision and integrity in administering and distributing public resources,” they said.
The bishops also wrote that international trade rules must “serve the universal common good of the whole human family and the special needs of the most vulnerable nations”.
“It is counterproductive to provide agricultural development assistance on the one hand and then to use unfair agricultural trade policies that harm the agricultural economics of poorer nations on the other,” they wrote.
“We pray that your meeting will be blessed by a spirit of collaboration that enables you to take steps to improve nutrition, reduce hunger and poverty, and strengthen just tax, trade and transparency policies for the common good of all.”
The letter is signed by the leaders of the bishops’ conferences of Ireland, England and Wales, Scotland, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United States and the European Union.
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Interesting how we can’t comment on the Ryanair article about them bulk buying a housing estate….
@Dave Murray: It’s a good idea though. Those cabin crew won’t be competing against others in the rental market. Saw the Soc Dem guy having a whinge about availability of new homes, but 25 houses is a drop in the ocean of the houses currently being built.
@Roy Kenneally: Good business by ryanair, they’re not the only ones doing this and more will follow.
@Roy Kenneally: I assume you’re not currently looking to buy in Swords.
@Jen McC: are you saying you would have been able to buy in swords if ryanair hadn’t bought housing for staff? Ryanair aren’t the enemy here.
@Martin Mongan: Ryanair should deal with hotels
Dear Journal,
Can you remove the begging pop up from your website. It’s cheap and unprofessional. Is this what you have become. Goodbye and keep up the tripe journalism
Frank Spencer pictured above will sort it out!
A no blame approach to covid enquiry…this government..innocent until proven innocent. What an absolute joke!
The covid 19 inquiry is going to take a no blame approach,where would you see it only Ireland a total fu c k up but none of the boys to blame, first one of blame holohan Codding all the people into taken them mad vaccines that were never tested properly
The management at these ‘universities’ are a self serving bunch.
The ATU in Galway being a prime example.
The admin staff treat the students and lecturers like dirt.
have your say