Tráthnóna inniu, tá tuairim tugtha ag comhairleoir Chúirt Bhreithiúnais an Aontais Eorpaigh gur cheart breithiúnas na Cúirte Ginearálta maidir le cinneadh chás cánach Apple a chur ar leataobh. Tá a fhios againn uilig go ndearna an cás seo agus an córas cánach a bhí sa tír seo tamall fada ó shin damáiste do chlú Stát na hÉireann.
The foreign direct investment, FDI, sector is a vitally important part of our economy and employs over 300,000 people. For many multinationals, Ireland is an attractive place to operate and grow thanks to our highly educated workforce. It is important for them and us that our tax regime is stable and respected. There have been elements of our tax code that have not lived up to those standards in the past, whether that was the double Irish or the facilitation of stateless companies. These arrangements inflicted considerable reputational damage on the State and were rightly, following pressure from Sinn Féin and others, closed down. It is not in the interests of the State or our economy to have an unwelcome spotlight shone on our tax system, especially when such attention provides motivation for some to encroach on what should never be at stake, namely, our tax sovereignty.
In 2016, the European Commission found that two tax rulings issued by Revenue to Apple in 1991 and 2007 had substantially and artificially lowered the tax paid by Apple since 1991. It declared that more than €14 billion in unpaid taxes and interest was owed by Apple to Ireland. The arrangement the Commission investigated was disclosed by Apple's head of tax operations, Phillip Bullock, in sworn testimony at the 2013 hearings of the US Senate subcommittee on investigations. He said the income earned by Apple subsidiaries in Ireland was subject to, in his own words, and "In accordance with an agreement that we have with Ireland". He confirmed that the agreement was that there was a maximum of 2% fixed on the tax.
This allowed a situation to develop whereby Apple's Irish subsidiary recorded European profits of €16 billion in 2021 with only €50 million of tax paid here. The Government decided, wrongly in our view, to join Apple in appealing the case to the General Court. That case was won. In July 2020, when the Government proclaimed victory, I said this was not a cause for victory but, rather, marked only half-time in the case. Today, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice has given his opinion, namely, that the European Court of Justice should set aside the judgment of the General Court. He has proposed that the case instead be referred back to the General Court for a new decision to be made. It should be noted that his opinion is non-binding, with the European Court of Justice judgment due in the next several months. However, there is no doubt that today's opinion is a blow for Apple and the Government which took the case. Worse still, it is a further embarrassment for the State. It again shines a spotlight on our tax affairs and further strengthens the resolve of some within the Commission to encroach on something that was never at question in this case, that is, our tax sovereignty and the right to set our corporate tax rate fairly and consistently.
On the day after the finance committee unanimously voted to apply a minimum effective tax rate on large multinationals, an unwelcome spotlight has again been shone on Ireland's tax regime and past practices. Does the Minister agree that today's opinion inflicts further reputational damage on the State and past tax arrangements that were but are no longer in operation here? What is the response of the Government to today's opinion?
