John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On a general question, for a long time, including during the period in office of former Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, this committee has always raised the issue of the taxation agreement with Taiwan. At a time when the world is changing rapidly and other European countries are seeking a presence in Taiwan, and our colleagues in the European Union have trade offices in that country, we have not really established a trade office there, even though Taiwan has a population of 24 million. The previous discussion we had about the DTA with Taiwan indicated that we would use the UK model of wording to have that agreement, but it has never been brought to conclusion. Given the shift in world politics and the global economy, and observing the one China policy and the actions taken by our European partners, is it not time for us to complete that taxation agreement and to move quickly to reopen our offices in Taiwan to a far greater degree in order that the trade between both countries can be supported more directly?