Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2013
165. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans for increasing an Irish presence in Taiwan since the closure of the Industrial Development Agency's Taiwan office in December 2011. [19122/13]
View answer166. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to increase the Irish presence in Taiwan in view of the fact that 16 EU member states have offices there and the high number of Double Taxation Agreements that have been signed by many of our common partners with Taiwan. [19123/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 165 and 166 together.
Ireland, along with all EU partners, adheres to the One China policy and, as a result, does not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan. This does not, however, preclude the development of economic and trade relations and Ireland, together with our EU partners, sees the benefit of encouraging trade with Taiwan, and continues to explore appropriate opportunities which arise. This does not, however, preclude the development of economic and trade relations and Ireland, together with our EU partners, sees the benefit of encouraging trade with Taiwan, and continues to explore appropriate opportunities which arise.
As the Deputy has noted, IDA Ireland had an office in Taipei but closed it following a reorganisation of resources in 2011. Enterprise Ireland and the IDA currently assess that, given the competing demands on limited resources, they can best manage the needs of their clients in China, including those in Taiwan, from their offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzen. Decisions regarding the presence of an Irish State Agencies in Taipei are matters for the Agencies concerned.
The European Union has no formal diplomatic or political relations with Taiwan. The EU does, however, recognise Taiwan as an economic and commercial entity and is represented by the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO) in Taipei, which was established in 2003. A number of EU partner countries also have Trade Offices there.
Irish business and other representatives travelling to Taipei on trade promotion and investment activities are free to liaise with the EETO and to welcome any assistance which might be offered by that office, in addition to the support provided by the Irish State Agencies in China.
In terms of the possibility of concluding a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) with Taiwan, this matter is currently being considered by the relevant Government Departments and agencies. Ireland has a DTA with the People’s Republic of China which entered into force in December 2001. Since the conclusion of the DTA with China, a separate agreement was agreed with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (HKSAR) and entered into force in February 2011. However, the situation in Hong Kong is different to Taiwan as Hong Kong’s separate taxation status is specifically provided for in the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as adopted by the National People’s Congress in Beijing in 1997.
