The World Economic Forum has placed Ireland eighth in its inclusive development index for economic performance. That report also points out that Ireland is faced with high income inequality and soaring wealth inequality. The theme for the World Economic Forum, which the Taoiseach is going to attend, is a "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World". A significant way to mend that fracture is by a real commitment to tax justice and a commitment to those measures that have been identified as being capable of putting an end to the dodging, evasion, avoidance and tax havens. All of that tax injustice deprives countries of the resources they need, impacts on developing countries and prevents them moving beyond reliance on aid.

When he addressed the European Parliament last week, the Taoiseach said "Ireland is not a tax haven ... and we don't want to be seen or perceived as a tax haven". Two reports were issued recently. The first, Tax Games: the Race to the Bottom, is from Tax Justice Network Ireland, and the second, Reward Work, Not Wealth, is Oxfam's annual report and it came out just before the forum at Davos commenced. Both point to the need to challenge and change international tax rules that keep so many people in poverty and ensure inequality within and between countries. According to the Oxfam report, the executives in the top five global fashion brands make in four days what it takes all the garment workers in Bangladesh to earn in a lifetime. If Ireland is committed to tax justice, we will adopt full country-by-country reporting of all large companies and multinationals, which will be publicly available for each country where these companies operate, with a breakdown of turnover, employees, physical asset sales and taxes.

Spillover analysis relating to another report shows that Ireland is also a leader in the context of the impact of its tax system on the developing world. Some developing countries are experiencing an increase in serious investment from Irish businesses. For that and other reasons, there is a need to consider tax spillovers again and how, for example, capital gains tax is avoided at a time when valuable assets in developing countries are being sold offshore. We need to review the tax free treatment of royalty and interest flows, our growing role as an international holding location and a conduit for intellectual property, and the need for a clearer and less complex system for taxing multinationals and large companies because international tax advisers are offering their clients opportunities to use Ireland as a conduit in precisely the ways that the spillover analysis said could not happen. Will the Government re-examine tax spillovers, particularly in the context of their impact on some of the poorest countries in the world?

I had a chance to read the World Economic Forum report on inclusive economic development last night in advance of my visit to Davos today. As is always the case with a report, it is possible to pick out negatives and positives. However, this report is very positive about Ireland and it is worth recording some of the items it contains. In terms of inclusive economic development, Ireland ranks eighth out of 30 in the world. We have risen from 12th to eighth. We are already ahead of Britain, France, Australia, Germany and Canada and if we continue on this path, we will overtake Sweden and the Netherlands in the next couple of years. It is important to put that on the record because we often do not get a reasonable outing for reports like this.

The report also points out that Ireland generates a strong performance in growth and development in intergenerational equity and that we benefit from a high gross domestic product, GDP, per capita, being fourth in our peer group and second highest in labour productivity.

It also notes how public debt has been reduced drastically, by 43%, over the past five years, which is the largest improvement of any advanced economy. It certainly identifies wealth inequality and income inequality, but as Members will know from the survey on income and living conditions, income inequality in Ireland is actually narrowing. It has gone down for two years in a row, as have poverty and deprivation rates. It is important that we all acknowledge those facts. The report draws particular attention to rising wealth inequality, much of which is related to the bounce-back in asset prices, rising home values, the recovery of pension funds, businesses gaining value, and the fact that more people are able to save more. There are often reasons behind these things.

In terms of tax avoidance, this Government is absolutely committed to country by country reporting. We have already signed up for that. It means that this year, for the first time, the Revenue Commissioners will share tax information with revenue commissioners in other countries. Until now that information has been confidential, so we did not know how much different companies paid in different countries. We have signed up to country by country reporting so that we will be able to compare notes with other revenue authorities and see if companies are paying their taxes in different countries. We have already eliminated the possibility of companies being stateless. We have removed the double Irish, and we are absolutely open to other measures which will reduce or help to crack down on tax evading and tax avoidance. A public consultation on that issue is under way at present on foot of the very detailed Coffey report which was published only a few months ago.

The positives will be undermined unless we really look at the negatives. We have a considerable reputation when it comes to humanitarian aid. Irish Aid is 100% untied. We also have a major reputation because of our work on the sustainable development goals. The Government launched a national plan on business and human rights. Part of that report is about policy coherence. It outlines that human rights have to be protected, as well as promoting economic trade, growth and investment. They should complement each other. We are being undermined by very reputable reports which say that our tax code is harmful to developing countries. Instead of the double Irish, we now have what is known as the single malt, and one way to deal with that is to ensure that all Irish registered companies are tax resident here. It would also mean supporting a UN intergovernmental body on tax. It also means supporting transparency around treaty negotiations and an analysis of the tax breaks in Irish law that multinationals can and do exploit. Surely if we want an economic and tax policy which benefits everybody, the Government will be committed to doing that, and will also ensure that we are not a tax haven. If the EU was to apply its criteria to EU members, there would be EU countries on that blacklist, and Ireland might very well feature.

That is certainly not the case; I assure the House that we are not going to feature on that list. The positives will always be undermined if we only ever focus on the negatives, and it is important that we, in this House, acknowledge from time to time some of the positive things happening in this country and in the world. The "single malt" is a feature of Maltese law. It is not something we are in a position to change, but it demonstrates why we can only deal with the issue of corporate tax evasion and tax avoidance on a European level. We can change our laws as much as we like, but companies can simply move money and move their operations. We need to deal with this issue on an international basis, through the OECD, and that is how we intend to address it.

In terms of tax policy in general, the Government is absolutely committed to tax sovereignty. While we will co-operate on an international level through the OECD and with the European Union, it is our firm belief that our taxes, whether taxes on companies or on people, should be set in this House. National taxes should fund national budgets and that decision should be made by a national parliament. We should not forget that our low corporation profit tax of 12.5% has been an enormous success. It is by no means the lowest in the EU. Other countries have a lower headline rate and and effective rates than we do because of the many exceptions they have. However, the certainty Ireland provides is really important. Companies know that if they invest in Ireland, base their operations in Ireland and employ people in Ireland, there is a political consensus in favour of retaining the 12.5% tax rate. I am glad that the three major parties in this House have committed to retaining that 12.5% rate.