The Government has been told by opposition parties that it should not decide how to spend the Apple tax billions after fighting the 2016 EU finding “tooth and nail”.
Opposition TDs accused the Government of “squandering taxpayers’ money” to fight the Apple case and of “sweeping under the carpet” the finding that Ireland “broke” EU state aid rules.
“I’ve never seen you bat so hard as you’re batting for this one company,” Sinn Féin’s finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said during a Dáil debate on the issue.
The European Court of Justice issued a judgment earlier this month to restore a 2016 European Commission ruling that found Ireland gave undue tax benefits to Apple, which would be illegal under EU state aid rules.
The final judgment in the long-running case ordered Ireland to recover billions in back taxes from Apple, which had been put in an escrow account pending the outcome of the case.
Speaking in the Dáil, Minister for Finance Jack Chambers defended the State’s taxation model and said reforms had been implemented in recent years.
He said it was “not credible or honest” to argue that Ireland should have accepted the European Commission’s finding in 2016 without taking a legal challenge against it.
“I would also note that the Government has engaged with a range of legal and taxation experts, both before taking the case and while the case was progressing, and the advice remained consistent that there were clear arguments to be made in favour of Ireland’s position, as well as a possibility to win the case.”
He added that the State “fully accepts the decision” by the European Court of Justice and is implementing the judgment “as we should”.
He said although the general plan on how the Apple billions would be spent was being decided on, he said it would not be used for day-to-day spending.
He said the Government would retain its approach to promote the multinational sector in the State.
“It remains an important priority for the Government to encourage and develop this sector.”
Sinn Féin’s Louise O’Reilly argued that the people who fought the Apple tax case “are not the people who should be left to spend that money”.
Her colleague, Mr Doherty, accused the Government of being “happy to squander taxpayers’ money” to fight the case.
“Let me tell you this. It will be the Irish people who will decide where this money needs to be spent. It will be Irish people in the next election that will decide the priorities in relation to this.”
He said the money should be invested in housing and in building capacity in hospitals. Sinn Féin has also said €1 billion of Apple taxes should be used for projects in disadvantaged areas.
Labour TD Ged Nash said he was criticised in the Dáil chamber before “for not donning the green jersey” by criticising the Government in relation to the Apple tax case.
He asked Mr Chambers whether he had confirmed whether other such deals were signed off by Revenue in the 1990s and whether other such deals had taken place in the EU.
“It would be naive in the extreme of us in this country to think that Ireland is the only and original sinner.”
Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall said it was “deeply regrettable” that the State spent eight years fighting the Commission’s ruling in 2016 “and putting corporate interests ahead of the public interest”.
“That’s almost a decade lost and €13 billion could have been invested in so many much-needed services and infrastructure – housing, in particular – at a time when you know that sum in 2016 was worth an awful lot more than it is worth now in 2024.
“Minister, you and your predecessors fought the decision tooth and nail, despite there being no basis for the appeal.
“Serious questions remain about the Government breaking state aid rules. You talk about rules-based systems very often. Here’s the rules-based state aid rules of the EU – you broke those rules. You were found by two courts to have broken those rules, and you’re just kind of sweeping that under the carpet now.”
Fianna Fáil TD Cormac Devlin said that “almost everyone has an opinion” on how the Apple money should be spent.
“Ultimately, a large range of areas are likely to be considered. Personally, I’d like to see the investment in housing, particularly the provision of affordable housing for working families and national transportation infrastructure.”
“I would also like to see funding available to accelerate the provision of retrofitting and renewable energy for homes in Ireland.
“There should also be a community dividend. Towns and villages across Ireland should be able to access funding for new sports and community facilities, new facilities that will serve generations now and into the future.”
