Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I would also say we need to speak out about what is going on in Spain. It is an affront to any notion of democracy that people, whatever one may think of them, who simply organised a vote for people to cast ballots on an issue that concerned them and their right to self-determination, a right that is accepted and enshrined in international law, could now be imprisoned and face very heavy sentences on charges of so-called sedition and rebellion. It is extraordinary. Simply saying that we accept the constitutional set-up of the Spanish state is not good enough in the face of that. On that basis, the people of Catalonia simply do not have a right to self-determination because the rest of Spain is not going to vote for the right of the people of Catalonia to self-determine - that is just not going to happen. It makes a joke, frankly, of self-determination if anyone expects that to happen.

In the Taoiseach's discussions on Digital Europe, to what extent is he now concerned that Europe and the European Commissioner are looking into a possible second instance of Irish state aid to Apple in terms of the intangible allowances which led to a massive write-off of tax liability during the period 2014-2015, where allowances jumped, benefiting a very small number of companies? In one year, allowances jumped from €33 billion to €66 million, and it was Apple and a few other companies which benefited.

This extraordinary jump followed the then Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, meeting the CEO of Apple at the beginning of that year. Following that, these changes were made by Deputy Noonan, conferring enormous benefits on Apple. If that does not stink of collusion in state aid to benefit certain companies, I do not know what does.

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