Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As to the reason we brought forward the policy statements we published earlier in the week, some of it is informed by my experience of presenting double tax agreements to the committee through several years and some of it by the concerns and perspectives that have been shared here. We are aware of the perspectives that have been raised by stakeholders, especially with regard to our double taxation agreements, DTAs, with the developing world. In terms of where we are at the moment, we now have 76 DTAs, of which 73 are in effect. There are three that have been signed but are not yet in effect. In terms of our priority for further agreements, it is Brazil, Argentina and Indonesia. We do not yet have DTAs with Colombia or Costa Rica, which have now joined the OECD. Our priorities are to conclude agreements with G20 countries. In terms of what that sequencing will look like, our first priority is G20 countries, namely, Brazil, Argentina and Indonesia. After that, we will move to developing tax treaties with OECD member countries as well as EU accession countries. Following that, we will move on to how we update existing treaties.

In terms of where we are with bringing our agreements in line with the OECD process, much of that has happened through the enactment of the multilateral instrument to which I referred in my opening statement. It is the case there are some countries for which a bilateral approach is more appropriate.