Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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40. To ask the Minister for Finance the reason Ireland is committed to appealing a decision on the Apple state aid case if it finds that state aid was present; the latest estimate of his Department of the potential amount that could be repayable to the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17518/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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In June 2014, the Competition Directorate of the European Commission announced its intention to open formal State Aid investigations into tax rulings provided to a number of companies in various Member States of the European Union. Since October 2015, investigations in three other Member States have concluded.  In each of these cases the Commission found that the Member States granted an illegal State Aid to the companies in question.

While the Commission has opened a formal investigation in relation to one particular case involving Ireland, it has not made a final determination in the matter.  While there is no formal timeline for when the final decision will be made in our case, I am aware of speculation about a possible decision in July.

This is a priority matter and Ireland has co-operated fully with the process to date and will continue to do so.  My Department has engaged closely with the Commission throughout this process.  Detailed and comprehensive responses have been provided to the Commission demonstrating that the appropriate amount of Irish tax was charged in accordance with the relevant legislation, that no selective advantage was given and that there was no State Aid.

I remain of the view that there was no breach of State Aid rules in this case and that the legislative provisions were correctly applied.  In the event that the Commission forms the view that there was State Aid, Ireland is entitled to challenge this decision in the European Courts.  As the Government has already indicated, we will take that course of action, if necessary, to continue to vigorously defend the Irish position.  Ireland will appeal the decision because we believe that no State Aid was granted and this view is strongly supported by our legal advice.

In the event of a finding of State Aid, the potential sum of money to be recovered would be determined on the basis of the Commission's decision.  As there is no indication at this point as to what decision the Commission may make, it is not possible to speculate regarding any recovery amount.