Minister for Finance says Apple ruling will not impact budget 2025

Apple has lost its fight with the European Commission's ruling that it underpaid €13 billion in tax in Ireland. Minister for Finance, Jack Chambers has said the ruling will not affect the 2025 Budget.

Despite the ruling in the case the Department of Finance has assured the Irish people that "The Irish position has always been that Ireland does not give preferential tax treatment to any companies or taxpayers."

With Minister Chambers saying the ruling "will not impact on the parameters already set out for Budget 2025."

Addressing the press last night the Finance Minister said, "We will engage with party leaders and see what the three parties in government feel the next step should be in the context of what will come from this funding. We have to be careful about that. That is why I am not going to speculate."

He went on to say, "We have set parameters in the context of budget 2025 which I believe we need to stick to and this is a one off adjustment which the Irish state will receive and we will have discussion with party leaders on what the next step will be." 

Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald had other ideas on the ruling, "I think this is a good day for the Irish tax payer, I think it is a very very bad day, a revealing day for this government. A government that was prepared to prevent €13 billion more than that, of tax revenues, legitimately owed to the state, they wished to send that back. At a time where we have a housing crisis, so many needs across Irish society. I think it tells everything about the kind of government that they are."