Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 March 2019
187. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Finance the amount of corporation tax paid in each of the years 2014 to 2018, from international companies registered in the Dublin docklands area; and his views on whether a proportion of these taxes should be ring-fenced to support initiatives in the nearby local communities. [12896/19]
View answerI am advised by Revenue that a breakdown of Corporation Tax receipts, on a sectoral basis up to 2017, is published at the following link: https://www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/information-about-revenue/statistics/receipts/receipts-sector.aspx. Data for 2018 is not yet available and will be finalised in the coming months.
It is not possible from Revenue records to separately identify receipts from companies based in the Dublin docklands area. However, if these companies are conducting financial or treasury type operations, their receipts are included in the “Financial and Insurance activities” sector in the above referenced table. However, this identifies receipts on a national basis for the sector, and would therefore encompass much more than the activity in the Dublin Docklands area.
The Deputy has enquired about the potential for ring-fencing, or hypothecation, of corporation tax receipts in the Dublin Docklands area. Hypothecation describes the linkage of specific expenditure to an explicit revenue source. As the Deputy will be aware, this is not a feature of the Irish tax system in general. It is only used in limited circumstances where there is strong justification for its use, because it can cause difficulties for the efficient and effective management of the public finances. I and my officials are generally opposed to the hypothecation of revenue funds as it reduces the flexibility of the Government to prioritise and allocate funds as necessary at a particular time. Furthermore, it also exposes specific expenditure dependent solely on a hypothecated revenue to any volatility associated with the revenue source in question.
