Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I think most ordinary people in this country would say that if they were accused of taking money from the people that the people should have had, they would be chased down by the State for doing that. In some cases they might even end up in prison for doing it, such as for TV licences and so on. I think most people would find that pretty difficult to stomach.

At the time, some of us said the company was guilty of aggressive tax avoidance and that it should be questioned about it. That is what the European Court of Justice has now said. I put it on record that I believe that is still happening. I believe new mechanisms have been found and that the tax expenditure figures, which I highlight every year, are just new channels through which the same companies are doing exactly the same things. I will keep saying it and I am sure the Government will keep defending the status quo, but the Apple case has confirmed that the concerns of some of us were well founded.