Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 September 2019
55. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Finance his views on illicit flows of capital from development partner countries of Ireland in the global south; if his attention has been drawn to the issue of tax avoidance being linked to poverty in developing countries; if he will raise the matter with his EU counterparts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37369/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe flows of illicit capital out of developing countries represent diversions of resources from their most efficient uses in developing economies and are likely to adversely impact domestic resource mobilization and hamper sustainable economic growth.
Ireland’s new international development policy ‘A Better World’ commits the Irish government to strengthening domestic resource mobilisation through effective bilateral and multilateral partnerships. Ireland has committed to undertake efforts to help developing countries to raise their own domestic revenue in ways that are more efficient, fairer and better promote good governance and equitable and inclusive development, and essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Ireland, in accordance with our International Tax Strategy, is committed to engaging constructively and respectfully with developing countries in relation to tax matters and to supporting such countries in raising domestic tax revenues in ways that are more efficient, that promote good governance and equitable development and that can allow them to eventually exit from a dependence on official development assistance. This has also informed our decision to join the Addis Tax Initiative (ATI) in 2017.
Through Ireland’s International Development Cooperation programme we provide support to regional tax organisations that provide much needed assistance to developing countries tax administrations on technical issues such as transfer pricing and automatic exchange of information, to help developing countries combat tax avoidance and the illicit flows of capital.
In light of these commitments, my Department is working closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners to increase Ireland’s work on domestic resource mobilisation through providing increased technical assistance and peer to peer learning to developing countries tax administrations, ensuring that increased revenue can support the furthest behind first.
