Apple ruling debated in Dáil as Government appeals to defend ‘integrity’ of tax system

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said theGovernment’s position was always that the entirety of the tax was paid in the case that no State aid was granted.

But the Commission ruled that Ireland gave the company undue tax benefits amounting to €13 billion and that its selective treatment meant that the company paid one per cent tax on its profits in the European Union in 2003. This dropped to a rate of 0.005 per cent in 2014.

According to Mr Noonan, the Government was appealing in order to defend the integrity of its revenue system and to challenge EU state aid rules as an incursion into member state taxation competence.

TDs were last night handed a 16-page document from the Department of Finance detailing the Commission’s decision.

It also issued a white paper from the US Treasury Department on the Commission’s state aid investigations on transfer pricing rules.

This paper was published before the Apple decision but states that the Commission’s approach deviates from existing EU case law and the Commission’s own decisions.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny (pictured) meanwhile said the ruling was so wrong it required an immediate response.

He told the Dáil: “Governments over the years have made clear, as this Government has, that Ireland did not and does not do deals with corporates, large or small. It is not how we do business”.

He added that the economic fortunes of Ireland improved after it opened up to foreign direct investment and said: “Today, this House has an opportunity to send a strong message that we stand together in challenging the presentation that the Commission has made, and that we are all determined that Ireland should continue to be at the forefront in efforts to improve and reform the international tax system.”