Committee will not grill multinationals over tax

The Oireachtas finance committee has voted not to haul multinational firms before tax hearings, in a move critics said was a sop to companies taking advantage of Ireland’s low corporate tax to pay less.

Ireland has been forced to defend how it taxes companies after the US Senate heard in May that computer giant Apple paid little or no tax on tens of billions of dollars in profits channelled through Irish subsidiaries.

The Apple controversy has dented Ireland’s reputation ahead of an exit from the bailout.