Ireland's reputation as a country that facilitated - yes, I use the dreaded words - tax avoidance on a grand scale over successive decades was brought back to the fore in recent days with the publication of a report by Oxfam. We have to get real on this issue. The poverty rates and inequality we have allowed to develop in our society can never be addressed as long as we continue to allow companies to avoid tax on such a grand scale. The Government, through the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, has totally rejected these findings, as has the Department of Finance. They have stated that, as a country, we did not meet any of the international standards to be considered a tax haven and that our corporation tax rate and incentives do not make the country a tax haven. That is fine and we would expect nothing else. However, it does not mean that we have to agree with such sentiments. We certainly and absolutely do not agree with them. Sinn Féin has questioned the tax collection methods for corporation tax for years. The so-called double Irish was closed because of massive pressure internationally, in particular from the European Union. We were then able to come up with a replacement scheme in the knowledge box. We should be charging the applicable rate of corporation tax in its entirety and ending poverty in this country. I can anticipate the response from the Leader. He will say we are ruining Ireland's reputation, are anti-jobs and always negative. I will write the script for him.

I thank the Senator very much. I will not bother to reply to her.

There have been too many question marks surrounding tax collection for years, most recently in the case of Apple. Sometimes, one just has to call a spade a spade. I am calling for a debate on the findings of the Oxfam report and how we can go about collecting the effective rate of corporation tax, with zero reductions. Citizens deserve it.