Mr. Barry O'Leary:

We would never talk about individual companies. There was no sweetheart deal for Apple. That is clear. It was a mistake. That comment should never have been made and it was retracted. The average annual salary in a multinational company is €43,000 compared to €36,000 in an Irish-owned company. On top of that, the multinationals pay another €19,000 per employee in corporation tax, so they pay a fair bit of tax.