Apple €13bn is not Ireland’s to spend, says Minister

The European Commission's Apple ruling must be challenged because it represents an attempt to interfere politically with Ireland's corporate tax affairs, according to the Minister for Housing.

"I think it's a flawed judgment by the commission," said Simon Coveney. "They are trying to force a country to retrospectively claim taxes that, at the time, there was no illegal activity taking place."

Mr Coveney made the comments last night as he arrived to address an Irish Times-hosted property forum in Dublin, Funding the Future – New Structures for Success.

“The commission is trying to get involved in the politics of how corporation tax is set,” Mr Coveney said, “with an agenda of trying to create a common corporate tax base and rate across the [EU]. And they’re using state aid rules to try to do that. And I think that is fundamentally flawed, and I think we have a very good chance in terms of a legal appeal.”

The Minister said he was confident that Independent Alliance members of the Government would back Minister for Finance Michael Noonan’s recommendation to Cabinet that the ruling be challenged in the European Court – a view urged by Attorney General Máire Whelan.

“Her view is that we have to appeal and I think she’s right,” said Mr Coveney. “The commission has given an opinion,” Mr Coveney said. We now need to test that opinion in a court of law because we think it is wrong, and I’d hope that tomorrow we’d get a unanimous view on that in Cabinet.”

He said he had no problem with a recall of the Dáil.

“It’s a lot of money involved [in a recall], but I’ve no problem with [one]. But its the job of government to make decisions as the executive, particularly on legal issues, to take the advice of the AG and make a decision. And I’m hopeful we’ll be in a position to do that tomorrow.”

Opposition spend

On Opposition calls for the €13 billion to be spent tackling a range of social issues, Mr Coveney said they were incorrect in their analysis. “They’re wrong,” he said. “Everybody would love to have €13 billion in their back pocket to spend it on all sorts of things. Our view is that this isn’t Ireland’s money to spend.

“This is money that is going to be going into a suspense account; we can’t access it until their is legal clarity around this judgment, which I think is flawed.

“Until this is resolved,” the Minister said, “there’ll be no spending of this money.”