Apple tax: Tech firm got €18m in grants for Cork plant as well as logistical support

When Richard Bruton, then jobs minister, answered a question in the Dáil three years ago about the value of state supports for Apple, he was quick to point out that the total sum over 33 years was less than one year’s income tax receipts from the company’s employees.

He said Apple had received €17.8m in grant assistance from IDA Ireland in relation to its Cork facility since 1980 while, on rough calculation, a year’s PAYE and USC collected from its workforce would total at least €25.6m.

It is notable that he did not frame his answer — to questions by Sinn Féin’s Peadar Toibin — in the context of the corporation tax paid by the company.