Dr. Jim Stewart:

I think that because Ireland has signed up to the treaties, we have already voluntarily given up a lot of our sovereignty. We exchange a huge amount of information with the Commission and other EU countries. I think that is right and a good thing to do. There are enormous benefits from being in the EU and we have voluntarily given up considerable aspects of our sovereignty. It is a bit of a chimera to suggest that we have sovereignty over our tax. Our tax rate is heavily influenced by what other countries do. In the context of Brexit, for example, if the UK goes down the route of light-touch regulation and low corporate tax, that will have huge adverse implications for us. What do we mean by sovereignty? How can we really be sovereign in setting our own tax rates? Co-operation and collaboration is a better economic strategy for us.