Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach mentioned the discussion he had with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Did the issue of the Apple tax judgment come up in that discussion? He mentioned in the previous round that he felt the left has been niggardly in acknowledging the role of foreign direct investment. I would argue that the right has been niggardly in accepting and acknowledging that the level of tax paid by the Apple corporation in this State was unacceptable. I understand that the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg today ruled that Ireland did not give Apple illegal state aid. I do not believe the court challenged the level of tax Apple paid in the period from 2003 to 2014 in particular. The Taoiseach can correct me if I am wrong. It paid corporation tax at 1% in 2003 and at 0.005% in 2014. In fact, the court seems to say that, rather than being illegal, that completely, totally and absolutely unacceptable level of tax was legal. That would say something about the law in this country and the way in which it is fixed in favour of big multinational corporations at the expense of society. This tax, even if paid at the low rate of 12.5%, would represent a serious sum of money which could and should be used for our health service, our education service and to reduce inequality within society. Did that feature in the Taoiseach's discussion?

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