Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With respect, Ms Vestager did not answer my question about the basis for her conclusion in this particular case that there was selective treatment that amounted to state aid. As the Commissioner has acknowledged, every tax ruling or, as we call them in Ireland, "advance opinion" from the Revenue is based on the particular circumstances of the case. In the case of Apple, one had two non-resident companies and the apportionment of profits between the Irish branch and head office. Without comparing how Apple was treated by way of an advance opinion vis-à-visa whole host of other companies, how could the Commission conclude that it was selective, it was preferential and it amounted to state aid? I suggest the bar of evidence one has to meet to reach that conclusion is a very high one indeed. I certainly have not seen the evidence, in what the Commission has published to date, to back up that.