Fianna Fáil to vote for appeal on Apple tax ruling

Oireachtas approval of the State's appeal against the €13 billion Apple tax ruling is assured after Fianna Fáil rowed in with its unequivocal support for a Government motion on the matter last night.

In a highly unusual move, the main Opposition party said it would vote with the Government and would be tabling no amendment to the motion, which seeks approval to appeal the European Commission’s determination that Apple received illegal State aid from Ireland.

“There is nothing objectionable in the Government motion,” Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath said last night. “We will not be tabling any amendment. It is our intention to vote for the motion.”

Meanwhile, the international pressure on Ireland has continued, with US president Barack Obama saying some allies were “racing to the bottom” with their tax policies.

Tax avoidance

Making his first public comments on the issue, Mr Obama said it was important for the US to have co-ordination with its allies “in terms of how they enforce their tax policies in ways that lead to revenue shifting and tax avoidance in our country”.

“It’s in the interest of all countries, whether they’re developed countries or developing countries, to put a stop to this,” Mr Obama told reporters at the end of the G-20 summit in Hangzhou, China.

He said he raised tax avoidance in talks with the G-20 leaders but did not refer to the Apple case specifically.

The Dáil has been recalled almost three weeks early for a debate on the ruling, which determined that Apple’s tax arrangements amounted to an unlawful State aid.

No choice

Fianna Fáil support will extend to elements of the motion added at the behest of the Independent Alliance and Minister for Children Katherine Zappone, seeking more transparency and tax justice.

At the weekend, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin indicated his support, repeating strong claims made by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan that the ruling formed part of an attack on Ireland’s low rate of corporation tax.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s European commissioner for agriculture and rural development, Phil Hogan, said he had no choice but to back the ruling. Speaking in Cork, he dismissed suggestions that the ruling by his competition commissioner colleague Margrethe Vestager was politically motivated.

Separately, former tánaiste Mary Harney has said that neither government nor State agencies were involved in discussions of tax arrangements during her time in cabinet, particularly when she was minister for enterprise and employment in 1997-2004.