Séamas O'Reilly: Here's what I think we should do with Apple's €14.1 billion

"I, for one, shudder to think how many replacement Macbook chargers they’ll have to sell to recoup that amount of money. Six? Seven, even?"

Apple logo on its flagship store in Milan, Italy: just look at how run down the place is, it would surely be unfair to deprive them of €14bn

This week, the EU ordered Apple to pay an outstanding bill of €13.8bn to the Irish state, in a landmark ruling covering tax owed from 2003 to 2014, bringing the full total of money on hand from Apple judgements to €14.1bn. 

This news, though welcome, was slightly complicated by the well-known fact that the Irish government didn’t appear to want the money and had, in fact, aided in fighting the courts attempting to make this judgement happen.