Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 and 5 together.

I met Mr. Tim Cook, chief executive of Apple, on 18 June in Dublin. Apple is a major investor in the country and employs more than 5,000 people in Ireland, mostly in Cork. I regularly meet companies with a presence in Ireland and it is right for me to do so. During our meeting Mr. Cook highlighted Apple's continued investment in Ireland, in particular, a new extension to the Cork facility which was completed in May this year. We discussed some topical issues, including the impact of Brexit, the digital Single Market, digital taxation and data protection. We also discussed the European Commission's state aid case and noted that payments were being made by Apple, in accordance with the agreed schedule, into the escrow fund which had been set up pending the appeal submitted to the European Court of Justice. We discussed the Athenry data centre site and noted the new policy and legal frameworks we were putting in place for future data centre development.

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