When the handover of Hong Kong to China took place in the 1997, the then Governor of Hong Kong, Lord Patten, had agreements with the Chinese authorities. We all remember the valuable work Lord Patten did in the reform of the RUC on this island. Those agreements provided for democracy and a free press. I ask the Leader to take up with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan, the issue of whether we should approach the Chinese authorities to say we would prefer it what was going on in China did not happen and that its economic success was paralleled by the development of democracy and a free press in Hong Kong and throughout China.

I also raise the corporate tax issue in relation to Apple. The Commission wrote to the former Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, on 12 June and, apparently, we have not participated. What was put to the media today by the Commission was a complaint that a request had been made to us on 12 June, with, as it states, normally one month to reply, and 13 weeks had passed since. The Commission has put out the document and we have to participate in this process. What it states is based on the above, that the Commission is of the opinion that the contested rulings do not comply with the arm's length principle and, accordingly, it is of the opinion that through these rulings the Irish authorities confer an advantage on Apple and that the advantage is obtained every year and ongoing, when the annual tax liability is agreed on by the tax authorities in view of that ruling. The Americans estimated last year that the tax avoided per day by Apple in 2012 was €25 million, or €9 billion a year. We have been condemned for our policies on this in the United States and, only today, in the United Kingdom. I do not know whether this was addressed to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, whether we have enough economic expertise, but we should not be getting into this kind of relationship with the European Commission. We should enter into this dialogue, defend - as we have stated here on so many occasions - the 12.5% corporation tax rate and get rid of the fiscal termites who keep on undermining that rate and bringing Ireland into public odium in the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom.