Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)

We will take two minutes and 15 seconds each. The current Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael coalition, and the previous Fianna Fáil-supported Fine Gael Government, spent millions of euro of taxpayers' money on legal fees fighting this judgment. They fought it even though the European Commission believed Apple owed this tax. The Court of Justice of the European Union determined and deemed, as we in Sinn Féin always believed, that this money is indeed owed to the Irish State and its people. Ten years and €10 million in legal fees later, do these two parties finally accept this judgment?

Foreign direct investment remains crucial to our economic strategy. It is probably no more important than in the mid-west region in my home city of Limerick, but it is incredibly important for our reputation that there are no sweetheart deals. There must be a fair and level playing field. The Government has argued that no special treatment was given to Apple. In accepting the EU judgment, does it now accept that special treatment was given to one multinational company? Obviously, part of the tax money we are going to get should be used for building public, social and affordable housing.

During the time Apple was not paying its appropriate level of tax, many communities in this State were and continue to be impacted by austerity measures. Many were devastated. Community groups and facilities were trashed through a lack of support and funding and many never recovered. The Pobal index outlines the scale of deprivation in many areas and census 2022 highlighted the large number of unemployment black spots that still exist in this State. Five of the top ten of them are in my own city of Limerick. These are communities that continue to suffer intergenerational disadvantage. They are areas where young children do not have the same opportunities in terms of sports facilities and arts and community infrastructure. Those communities suffered most by imposed austerity and as such, they must be given the opportunity to benefit from the windfall. A Sinn Féin Government will ensure that they do benefit. To that end, we have committed to investing €1 billion of this windfall into communities with the ambition to use the money to enhance sports projects and arts, community and youth facilities, which will have an impact across the whole of Limerick. It is part of our commitment to make this State a better place to work, raise a family and build a future. It is about giving back to those communities. That is our commitment. It is a commitment to back those communities that were held back by neglect and regressive cuts over the years.

See this speech in context