In our audit of the Ireland South European election candidates, we asked each candidate to answer questions on nine of the most pressing issues facing Ireland and Europe in the coming years.

Do you want Ireland to maintain its current corporation tax regime?

Jan Van De Ven

Yes.

Liadh Ní Riada

I fully support the right of this state to set its own rate of corporation tax. Sinn Féin opposes any moves at European level to remove our veto on this issue. The big issue here is ensuring that corporations pay the set rate.

We also need to see an end to the scandalous sweetheart deals for bailed-out banks. AIB didn’t pay a cent in corporation tax last year despite booming profits. This is completely unacceptable, especially when you consider the never ending crises in our public services.

Grace O’Sullivan

We’re in a dilemma there. I think those corporations should be paying their fair share. They should be paying it and they should be held to account. So enforcement of our current tax system should absolutely happen without a doubt and then in terms of just fairness, I think we need to look at our EU partners and they need to look at us in terms of helping us to adjust.

For now, we are a nation with a huge interest in not only our human resources but we have great skilled people. We have something to offer and we should recognise that we make value back from that. It’s not all just give to the corporations. We need to take back. When we hear that the corporations are creating jobs, they are getting really good skilled people. So let’s make sure we get the return on that.

Breda Gardner

Yes, but it must be properly and fairly enforced, which is not the case at the moment (as with Apple, for example).

Liam Minehan

Yes but it should be enforced better. If someone is supposed to be paying tax we should collect it.

Sheila Nunan

Labour is clear, we must stop tax evasion and big corporations must pay their fair share.

Labour has sought the 12.5% to be an effective tax rate, which means ending deductions that allow big companies to pay far less than 12.5%.

We will defend Ireland’s autonomy on corporation tax, but Labour does support digital taxation and financial transaction tax at European level, where they can be effectively implemented.

European economic policy needs to do more to support countries, like Ireland, that are on the edges of the single market. Until that happens, some fair competition for direct investment is a legitimate strategy.

Mick Wallace

In 2012 – which is the last year we have comprehensive figures for on this matter -$2 trillion flowed into developing countries in the global South from the global North in aid, investment, and loans. That same year, $5 trillion flowed from the global South to the global North. The worst problems in terms of facilitating this extraction were illicit tax flows to tax havens in countries such as Ireland and Luxembourg.

As part of tackling global warming and its wider effects, it is essential that our tax haven activities cease, and that we stop facilitating the theft of money that should be going into the public finances of countries that are dealing with much more extreme effects of global warming that we in the global north are facing at present.

Peter O’Loughlin

No, we’ve become a tax haven. It completely distorts our national accounts to such an extent that it’s impossible to know the true state of our domestic economy. The famous 26.5 GDP growth rate being a prime example. Fastest growing economy in Europe? Fool’s paradise.

Diarmuid O’Flynn

I’m probably the only MEP candidate who will say this, but I think we should sign up to a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base. What is it? Per the Commission: The Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) is a single set of rules to calculate companies’ taxable profits in the EU.

With the CCCTB, cross-border companies will only have to comply with one, single EU system for computing their taxable income, rather than many different national rulebooks.

Companies can file one tax return for all of their EU activities, and offset losses in one Member State against profits in another.

The consolidated taxable profits will be shared between the Member States in which the group is active, using an apportionment formula. Each Member State will then tax its share of the profits at its own national tax rate.

Ireland currently facilitates the rotten global corporate tax avoidance regime which is contributing hugely to the imbalance in society, the reduction in public services as huge chunks of taxation that should be paid is legally avoided by these corporate giants. It must end, and already there are major moves afoot to do just that.

Ireland is saying they want to wait for the OECD to come up with the goods on how this should be done – we would, wouldn’t we, when the same OECD uses its own skewed definitions of ‘tax haven’ that means Ireland isn’t on the list, nor indeed are any of the other greatest such culprits in the EU, such as Luxembourg, Netherlands, UK.

A CCCTB doesn’t mean that countries aren’t then free to increase their tax-rate, if they wish. But there would be a minimum, and that would be a definite start.

Andrew Doyle

Nick Bradshaw Nick Bradshaw

If elected as an MEP, I will re-affirm Ireland’s commitment to a 12.5% corporation tax rate and closely monitor proposals for a common corporate tax base, a financial transactions tax and a digital services tax.

Colleen Worthington

Let’s look at some numbers. Revenue reports that, “Net CT receipts in 2017 were €8.2 billion.” An increase in corporation tax could bring in a few extra billion, no more, and could shrink the economy if it creates a less welcoming environment for businesses.

Between the National Broadband Plan and the National Children’s Hospital, this government has squandered at least €5 billion, probably more. No amount of tax revenue can balance our budget if the money is poured into a leaky bucket.

I am asking for votes so I can mend the hole in the bucket.

Then we can talk about the tax regime.

Deirdre Clune

Yes.

Seán Kelly

Yes. Ireland is fully compliant with OECD guidelines, and is one of the most attractive global investment locations and this will be particularly important to maintain when Brexit occurs and long after.