US multinationals contact Minister over Apple tax ruling

Minister for Jobs Mary Mitchell O'Connor says she has had been contacted by a number of US multinationals since the European Commission ruled that Apple illegally received State aid from Ireland equating to €13 billion.

Speaking in Brussels where she is due to meet EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom for talks amid signs that negotiations on a new EU-US trade deal are running into difficulty, the Minister said her message would be that Ireland's corporate tax rate would not be compromised.

“We profoundly reject the European Commission’s findings, and the Government has together decided that we will appeal the findings…We totally reject that there was State aid or that there was a special deal done for Apple,” she said, adding that the Government had employed a team of lawyers to fight its case.

Ms O'Connor said she had been assured by IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan that the inward investment agency had a strong pipeline of investments over the next six months.

“My big consideration is to ensure, as the Jobs Minister, that we have favourable conditions for job creation. We will make sure that, whatever jobs can be created in Ireland, we’ll make sure there are favourable enterprise conditions.”

She said the Cabinet remains united over the issue despite the divisions laid bare last week over whether to appeal the ruling.

Strong views

“I sit at the Cabinet table. I believe that we’re a good working Cabinet. People have strong views, but we work our way through it and then come to a decision.

“With the budget there are always tensions, every department will be looking for money…but at the end we have to make a joint decision and we will do that. “

Ms Mitchell O Connor said the Government remained committed to the EU-US trade deal known as TTIP (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) despite growing opposition from a number of EU countries.

Belgian prime minister Charles Michel has become the latest figure to call for the negotiations to be paused amid concerns that European demands are not being made in the negotiations.

French prime minister Manuel Valls last week demanded a “clear halt” to the negotiations, describing the agreement on the table as “unacceptable”.

His comments echo those of French foreign trade minister Matthias Fekl, who said the negotiations should cease.

Lack of progress

Germany’s economy minister Sigmar Gabriel said he believed the negotiations with the US had “de facto failed” , highlighting the lack of progress so far.

Through German chancellor Angela Merkel later underlined her support for the deal, public opinion in Germany is highly sceptical towards TTIP. With German and French elections looming next year, the leaders of both countries are wary of endorsing a transatlantic trade agreement that has minimal support among the electorate.

However, Ms Mitchell O Connor confirmed today that the Irish Government, which has been a strong supporter of TTIP since it was launched during Ireland’s presidency of the EU in 2013, still supports the agreement, although she believes the timeline for completion could be two or three years.

"The Irish position is still the same. Obviously we are very aware of what is going on in the US. There will be elections in Germany and France. It makes it more complex but we're still on board. We believe TTIP and CETA [a separate deal between the EU and Canada]... open up huge advantages for Ireland. We are a trading nation, we are an exporting nation, and we have to go out there and seek markets."

Ratification

She also confirmed that she would be bringing a memo to Cabinet to allow the provisional application of the EU-

Canada

free trade agreement before its ratification would go to the Dáil.

The European Commission is hoping to endorse the CETA deal at the EU-Canada summit next month. In a setback for the commission it must now be ratified by each EU member state’s national parliament, as well as some federal parliaments

Sinn Féin’s Matt Carthy has called on the Government to stop both TTIP and CETA, which he believes pose a threat to Irish interests and the welfare of Irish citizens.