The Irish government has defended its low corporate tax rate that has seen multinational tech companies shift billions of Australian profits offshore.
Irish jobs minister Richard Bruton, who is in Australia on a five-day trade and investment mission, said the tax minimising strategies of tech companies such as Google and Apple were a symptom of the digital economy and not one country's tax rate.
"The issue with Google and Apple is - how do you price and identify and tax digital matters?" he said.
"All tax codes have to change to deal with this ... It's not an Irish issue, it's not a Dutch issue ... it's an international problem."
Ireland's low corporate tax rate of 12.5 per cent has attracted corporations to its shores that have used the country's treaties with other tax havens to minimise their tax.
Fairfax Media revealed in February that Apple alone had shifted $9 billion from Australia through its Irish subsidiary over a 10-year period.
Mr Bruton said Ireland was not considering raising its corporate tax rate, despite a push by governments around the world to close loopholes and stop corporate tax dodging.
"We're not in the business of raising our corporate tax rate. We believe that it is perfectly legitimate to have a low corporate tax rate," he said.
"Ireland has a tax regime that is clear and transparent. We're fully supportive of the rules that Australia, through the G20, are seeking to introduce."
The Australian Tax Office estimates Australia could be losing more than $1 billion in potential revenue each year because of the international tax-minimising strategies of multinationals.
The issue is expected to form a key part of the G20 discussions in Brisbane in November.
Mark Zirnsak of the Tax Justice Network said Ireland's absence of transfer pricing laws and its treaties with other tax havens meant that foreign multinationals often paid much less than the 12.5 per cent corporate rate.
"It's hypocrisy [for Ireland] to say, on the one hand, we need international co-operation, but on the other hand to help companies artificially funnel their profits," he said.
Thirty-two Irish companies from the financial services, technology and healthcare sectors are participating in the trade mission to Australia, which aims at promoting investment in Ireland.
Ireland has defended its low corporate tax rate as a way of encouraging investment in the country and boosting jobs in the wake of the financial crisis.
