Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have two questions. The first concerns a question the Commissioner answered earlier about the three rates of tax we would apply to multinational companies that would come under the current proposal. How can the Commissioner say this is not an issue of sovereignty when the proposal requires us to get rid of two of our existing tax rates that have been here for decades?

The second question follows on from other questions concerning the customs union and Brexit. Deputy Michael McGrath spoke about the lacuna between a negotiation. This morning, the Minister for Finance said that we could be looking at six years between Brexit and a new trade deal. We heard scary figures about the WTO tariffs, for example, that a rate of 50% could be applied to food and beverages. A total of 65% of our exports go to Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Is there any scenario whereby a country that wants to independently carry out trade deals with other jurisdictions would have customs imposed between its border and another member of the EU? I come from Donegal. On the way down here, I stopped off in Tyrone, which is in Northern Ireland, to buy a present for my son. Those are the kind of questions people are asking. His birthday is coming up at the weekend. They are asking what is going to happen in two years' time. They are asking whether they will be stopped at the Border and will have to pay a tariff if there are to be checks. It is very clear what the British want to do. They want to be able to carry out trade deals with other jurisdictions across the globe independently of Europe. Is there any scenario whereby they can still be part of the customs union with no tariffs?