Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire chuig an gcoiste le plé a dhéanamh ar na double taxation agreements idir Kosovo agus an Ghearmáin. In the orders for the double taxation agreements before us, in some cases we are replacing existing tax agreements with new agreements such as with the Netherlands, whereas in the case of Germany we are adding a protocol to the existing agreement. Why is that the case? The Minister told us that in 2017 Germany requested that the 2011 agreement be updated by way of protocol. Why was that request made? Why is that the preference in this case?

The Minister also said the Government had written to some other jurisdictions that have not yet signed up to the BEPS multilateral convention to discuss options for implementing the BEPS recommendations. Which jurisdictions are they?

The Minister said the agreement and protocol before us today both contain minimum standards. Does he not believe that we should not just advocate for a minimalist approach but for something that is more enhanced? I ask him to elaborate on the other measures which he described as recommended best practices under BEPS.