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

That is the challenge we face. That agreement brings consequences, but agreement not being reached also brings consequences. The Deputy is correct in his summary of the matter. Several proposals are being put forward within the EU to generate what are called "own resources". They are, in essence, taxes the revenue from which goes back to the European Union. There are several such taxes that I believe we will be able to support, such as some of the proposals in favour of a plastics tax, but there are other proposals relating to digital taxation and the whole addition of a carbon and border adjustment tax that raise very big issues for any exporting country within the European Union, not to mention the EU as an exporter in many important parts of the global economy. That said, the only way we can deal with these issues is to try to engage with them constructively and see whether some kind of agreement can be reached in these areas that gets the balance right between our own interests in this area and the broader European needs which the Deputy described. We will engage on this constructively. I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue.

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