Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I again thank the Senator for raising those points and note the frustration with which she articulated them. I will bring them back to the Minister for Finance. I did not necessarily expect the Senator to be happy with the response but, notwithstanding that, a global approach to address the challenges raised by digitalisation under Pillar 1 of the OECD agreement is preferable to unilateral measures such as a digital advertising tax. Unilateral digital taxes only serve to increase international trade tensions, which would not benefit Ireland. They would undermine the trust required to achieve a lasting global solution at the OECD inclusive forum on BEPS, which is the best forum in which to achieve this. As I mentioned, this is a global problem requiring a global solution. The Government remains fully supportive of the OECD agreement and looks forward to both agreeing and implementing the rules in the near future.