Written answers

Tuesday, 21 July 2020

Department of Finance

EU Investigations

Photo of Gerald NashGerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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204. To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the judgment of the General Court of the European Union on the appeal by Ireland and a company (details supplied) against the €13 billion tax ruling by the European Commission; the legal expenses on the case to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16873/20]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the General Court of the European Union (GCEU) annulled the European Commission's State Aid Decision of 30 August 2016 in relation to Apple.

The GCEU concluded that the Commission in their Decision had failed to demonstrate that by issuing the opinions in 1991 and 2007 that the Irish authorities had granted the two Apple companies ASI and AOE a selective advantage. The GCEU rejected all three lines of arguments put forward by the Commission. Thus, it overturned the Commission’s 2016 Decision that Ireland had granted a State aid to Apple.

Ireland has always been clear that, based on Irish law, the correct amount of Irish tax was charged to the company and that Ireland did not provide State aid to Apple. This was the reason that Ireland appealed the Commission Decision and the judgment from the GCEU vindicates Ireland’s stance to appeal the Commission Decision.

The State and its lawyers are now examining the detail of the judgment.

As both the State and Apple have been successful in having the judgement annulled, an appeal by either the State or Apple is not possible and therefore the issue does not arise.

An appeal is open to the Commission at this stage. If the Commission appeals, the Deputy may rest assured that the State will robustly defend its position. In this case, the appeal process is likely to take a number of years to complete.

In total, costs of approximately €8.6 million (including VAT) have been incurred across all State parties involved. This includes all legal costs, consultancy fees and other associated costs. These fees have been paid by the Department of Finance, Revenue Commissioners, NTMA, Central Bank of Ireland, Attorney General's Office, and the Chief State Solicitor's Office.

The Commission decision in 2016 placed a binding obligation on Ireland to recover the alleged aid. Approximately €4 million of the total costs incurred related to the complex and unprecedented recovery process.

The remaining costs, approximately €4.6 million, were incurred in respect of Ireland’s legal application seeking the annulment of the Commission’s decision.

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