Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ireland is a developed country and a member of the OECD and has always used this model as a basis for negotiations, adapting it to cater for Ireland's interests. When the UN model convention was published in 1980, it sought to assist developing countries. Ireland already had a well-established policy and model tailored to best represent the country's interests, so there was no need to change from our OECD model.

There have been three treaties in the past 12 months: Pakistan, Ethiopia and Zambia. These contained elements of both the OECD and UN models.