Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

However, we have always been clear that the Government is fully committed to ensuring that recovery of the alleged Apple state aid takes place without delay and we have committed significant resources to ensuring this is achieved. Irish officials and experts have been engaged in intensive work to ensure that the State complies with all its recovery obligations as soon as possible and they have been in constant contact with the European Commission and Apple on all aspects of this process for over a year.

We have made significant progress on the complex issue of establishing an escrow fund. Given the scale and bespoke nature of such a fund, the precise terms are subject to confidential and commercially sensitive deliberations and I cannot at this point be drawn into a public commitment on timeframes as this could undermine the State's position, save to say that it will take place as soon as possible.

The announcement of the intention to launch infringement proceedings against Ireland is a wholly unnecessary step by the Commission. No fines will occur to Ireland on foot of infringement proceedings under Article 108(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Assuming the Commission can successfully convince the European Court of Justice that Ireland has not made sufficient progress on recovery, the result will be a declaration from the court that Ireland has not complied with its treaty obligations.  The Government takes this very seriously and we will do everything in our power to defend such action.

Fines may occur on foot of a second court action taken by the Commission for Ireland’s failure to have complied with a judgment of the European Court of Justice under Article 260(2) of the treaty. The level of fines is at the discretion of the court and the purpose behind them is to ensure that member states takes their treaty obligations seriously.

The Government has made clear that we respect the rule of law in the European Union and we will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that the need for such action and the levelling of such fines does not arise.

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