Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

There was a particular moment, a well-crafted and smart moment, when the Irish Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, picked up his iPhone, turned it around and pointed out that it said designed in California and manufactured in China. He claimed that this meant that any profits accrued were not owed to Ireland. Ms Vestager probably knows that we recorded a growth rate of 26% in one year, the so-called leprechaun economics. We had an increase in corporation tax receipts of in excess of €2 billion in one year, more than €1 billion of which was directly attributable to Apple. Is it not logically inconsistent for the Government on the one hand to take the extra tax from Apple because of the winding down of the double-Irish and the European Commission's investigation while on the other hand to argue that this tax is not actually owed to Ireland?