People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny has called on the government to drop its appeal of the landmark 2016 ruling by the European commission that found that the company Apple owed €14.3 billion to Ireland.
Gino Kenny TD said:
“It is unacceptable that the government are proposing the increase of carbon taxes, which will drastically affect working people who are already struggling, meanwhile they refuse to hold major corporations like Apple accountable for their tax-dodging.
“It is even more heinous that in this circumstance the government have spent €7.1 million so far in taxpayer’s money to pursue this appeal, and those were the costs reported in April this year. That includes €3 million to William Fry – and another €595,400 to consultancy company Price Waterhouse Cooper. Who knows how much more they are willing to pay in order to prevent us receiving the money that is owed to us?
“A judgement on the case is expected by 2020, and if the government decides to appeal the case, this situation could go on much longer. The money owed by Apple should have been paid to us after the European Commission’s ruling that €14.3 billion was owed to us, simple as. This charade shows Fine Gael’s priorities clearly lie with keeping the corporations flush at the taxpayer’s expense.”
