"The Government Should Be On The Side Of The People & Not The Side Of The Apple Corporation"

Tuesday, 23 May 2023 09:17

By Caoimhe Harney

Mick Barry TD said the world's biggest company not paying tax is galling

The Government are wrong to be going to court today to argue against a potential award of more than €13 billion to the State, according to Cork North Central TD Mick Barry.

Deputy Barry lives 2 miles away from from Apple's European Headquarters at Hollyhill, Cork city.

His comments come as the EU's highest court, the European Court of Justice, meets to hear the European Commission's appeal against the decision of its General Court in 2020 to overturn a multi-billion euro award to the Irish State.

The original Commission award in 2016 found that the State had "substantially and critically lowered the tax paid by Apple in Ireland since 1991." Apple, for example, paid tax at a rate of 0.005% in Ireland in 2014.

Deputy Barry said this morning: "Five minutes drive away from the Apple campus are schools that are only kept going by fundraising campaigns and hospitals with levels of overcrowding that regularly make national news headlines.

"These public services are crying out for funding - as are similar schools and hospitals across the state.

"The idea that the biggest company in the world was in the neighbourhood paying tax at a rate of next to nothing is not only galling, it is wrong.

"The Government should be on the side of the people and not on the side of the Apple corporation today."

"Today's hearing will be followed by the issuance of a non-binding opinion in approximately 6 months time followed by a final judgement approximately six months after that," he added.