Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and his officials. I commend the latter and their colleagues in the Revenue Commissioners on their continuing success in negotiating double taxation agreements and tax information exchange agreements with third-party countries.

In regard to DTAs, I understand they are based on the OECD model. Are they generally of a pro forma nature or are they usually bespoke and tailored to individual countries? Will the Minister of State comment on the nature of our dealings with countries with which we have not agreed either a DTA or TIEA? If issues arise, as they can do, in terms of the need for information exchange, what is the procedure in such cases? Is it done by mutual agreement and can a country simply refuse or stonewall a request by the Irish authorities for information?

I apologise if the Minister of State has supplied this information but perhaps he might outline the scale of trade between Ireland and Ukraine and Dominica. In the context of countries with which we have yet to put in place TIEAs or DTAs, will the Minister of State indicate where our priorities lie? With which countries are we actively working to conclude agreements, particularly in light of our level of trade with them?