Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I tabled a question about the meeting with the Estonian Prime Minister and prepared my supplementaries on that basis. Now I find that I can ask questions about meetings with the British Prime Minister, the options presented after the December discussions or even the St. Patrick's Day visit to the US. It is really not a good way to do that. I am profoundly concerned about the viability of the December agreement and I think we need some opportunity in this House to debate that in a very frank and clear way. It is important for both our UK and EU interlocutors to hear clearly the views of this House on that because it became crystal clear over the weekend that none of the options - a, b or c - can be achieved by the British Government or will be sustained by a majority in the British Government. We need to have very frank discussions about that and where we lie in respect of that.

My own question related to the meeting with the Estonian Prime Minister.

Despite the distance, there are many synergies between Estonia and Ireland. I acknowledge the important milestone in Estonian history.

Did the Taoiseach discuss the notion of the transition arrangement with Mr. Ratas? He said they had discussions on future relationships, in other words the final agreement between the European Union and the UK. Did they discuss the interim agreement? What is the Estonian position on free movement in the interim? I presume Mr. Ratas's position is that Estonian citizens would continue to enjoy access to the United Kingdom. Is that also our position?

As the Taoiseach knows, Estonia has been a leader in the digital economy. It developed a concept of e-residency, which has been in place since 2014. That allows non-Estonian citizens access to services, such as company formation, banking, payment processing and taxation. I think it is a very good idea. It gives e-residents a smart card that they can use for signing documents. It is aimed at attracting entrepreneurs into the country. Is it something the Taoiseach has reflected on and could we have something similar?

Did the Taoiseach discuss the EU digital tax with Mr. Ratas? Obviously the issue of changing how corporation tax works into a sort of sales tax would have a profound, negative impact on countries such as Ireland and Estonia. Did they discuss that and does Mr. Ratas have a view on it?

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