Michael Noonan forced to defend Apple stance to MEPs

Finance Minister Michael Noonan was forced to defend Ireland’s corporate tax regime at a hearing in Brussels yesterday.

Grilled by MEPs for over an hour, Mr Noonan deflected criticism of deals done with Apple, saying it was up to US authorities to collect any back-taxes due.

“It’s not our fault that there are mismatches between international tax practices and that clever tax lawyers are earning high fees in exploiting them,” he said.