Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am ask that within a year of the passing of this Bill, the Minister would prepare and lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a review of Ireland's trade and tax treaties. This refers to our bilateral tax treaties. I ask that this would include an assessment of the role the tax treaties might be playing with regard to the global achievement of the sustainable development goals, and recommendations as to areas of particular reform. The specific issue that I am touching on here is one that we do not focus on much. I know there has been much focus on Apple tax and wider issues, but this concerns Ireland's bilateral tax treaties specifically. I am concerned that in some of the tax treaties which Ireland has with developing countries, there are very low levels of withholding tax. I am concerned about how that may be impacting on the capacity of those countries to achieve sustainable development goals within their own territories, and how we might be effectively contributing to the denial of revenue to those countries.

If this review is undertaken, I would hope to ensure that companies which are registered in Ireland are made tax resident in Ireland without exception. There is a concern around companies that are registered in Ireland, but are not Irish tax-resident. That is the other side of the tax treaties, which affects our capacity to generate revenue and ensure that we can fulfil our sustainable development goals. In a new global context in which we have made new global commitments, I am asking what the plan is for reviewing our bilateral tax treaties to ensure that there is policy coherence between them and our other stated international and national goals.