I move:
That Dáil Éireann approves the following Orders in draft:
(i) Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (Malaysia) Order 2010,
(ii) Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income and Capital Gains) (Republic of Austria) Order 2010,
(iii) Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income and Capital and Gewerbesteuer (Trade Tax)) (Federal Republic of Germany) Order 2010,
(iv) Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (Republic of Albania) Order 2010,
(v) Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) Order 2010,
(vi) Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (Kingdom of Morocco) Order 2010,
(vii) Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (Montenegro) Order 2010,
(viii) Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (Republic of Singapore) Order 2010,
(ix) Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income and Capital Gains) (United Arab Emirates) Order 2010,
(x) Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income) (State of Kuwait) Order 2010,
(xi) Double Taxation Relief (Taxes on Income and Capital Gains) (Republic of South Africa) Order 2010,
(xii) Exchange of Information relating to Taxes (Cook Islands) Order 2010,
(xiii) Exchange of Information relating to Taxes (Antigua and Barbuda) Order 2010,
(xiv) Exchange of Information relating to Taxes (British Virgin Islands) Order 2010,
(xv) Exchange of Information relating to Taxes (Samoa) Order 2010,
(xvi) Exchange of Information relating to Taxes (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) Order 2010,
(xvii) Exchange of Information relating to Taxes (Saint Lucia) Order 2010,
(xviii) Exchange of Information relating to Taxes (Republic of the Marshall Islands) Order 2010, and
(xix) Exchange of Information relating to Tax Matters (Belize) Order 2010.
copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 19 November 2010, 1 December 2010 and 2 December 2010.I am pleased to have the opportunity to come before the committee regarding a subject matter in which there is agreement across all political parties, which is the expansion of our network of double taxation agreements and tax information exchange agreements.
I am glad to report substantial progress since I last appeared before the committee in this regard this time last year and to introduce 19 draft orders giving the force of law in Ireland to seven new double taxation agreements, four protocols to existing double taxation agreements and eight new tax information exchange agreements. I will explain why so many agreements are being presented to the committee at one time.
First, there has been a significant acceleration of the process of signing tax information exchange agreements between OECD countries and offshore jurisdictions. This acceleration has resulted from international pressure against tax evasion through the use of offshore jurisdictions and also strict bank secrecy rules. Of most significance was a G20 communiqué in April 2009 advocating a much tougher stance against tax secrecy and later that year in Pittsburgh a call by the G20 for the use of countermeasures against jurisdictions that did not adopt the standards developed by the OECD.
As part of a Franco-German initiative, I attended and spoke at two meetings, as Minister of State representing Ireland, of selected EU and OECD countries, the first on transparency and exchange of information on 20-21 October in 2008 in Paris, and a second meeting focused on responses to the failure of implementing the standards of transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes in Berlin on 23 June 2009, where the then German Finance Minister, Peer Steinbruck, spoke with passionate indignation about the impact of tax evasion and tax havens on the public services the state was able to fund. There is no doubt that the net effect of the pressure that has been exerted has produced significant progress.
Second, the new climate of engagement that resulted from the G20 and related actions in which we were directly involved has afforded opportunities for Ireland to secure double taxation agreements with jurisdictions that had previously been beyond our reach because of their prior refusal to accept the OECD Article 26 exchange of information standard.
The seven double taxation agreements before the committee are with Hong Kong, Albania, Singapore, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Montenegro and Kuwait. The four protocols to existing double taxation agreements concern South Africa, Germany, Austria, and Malaysia and the eight tax information exchange agreements relate to Samoa, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, the Cook Islands, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Marshall Islands and Belize. The double taxation agreements represent a significant spreading of the Irish tax treaty network into key developing countries and trading partners for Ireland. Their addition to the Irish network will be welcomed by Irish business, as they will allow greater freedom of access to markets in the countries concerned.
The second batch of draft orders concerns four protocols to existing double taxation agreements. Three of those - Austria, Malaysia and South Africa - facilitate the updating of existing double taxation agreements to the OECD information exchange standard. The protocol to the South Africa double taxation convention also amends the dividend provisions to align them with South Africa's current tax policy. The fourth with Germany amends the provisions of the German treaty dealing with double taxation relief for dividends paid by Irish companies to residents of Germany.
Finally, eight draft orders are presented in respect of new tax information exchange agreements, which will allow the Revenue Commissioners to request directly information from those jurisdictions that is relevant to an Irish tax investigation such as bank account information, or company or trust ownership information. The agreements will, therefore, greatly assist the Revenue Commissioners in tax investigations involving entities and bank accounts located in these jurisdictions. The committee's consideration of these double taxation agreements and tax information exchange agreements is an important step in their ratification process, as required under the Constitution and the Taxes Consolidation Act. I commend these draft orders to the committee and will be happy to deal with any questions.