Apple wanted CSO to keep information confidential

Apple approached the CSO expressing concerns that information it provided the statistics agency should remain confidential in compiling GDP figures, the Irish Examiner understands.

The communication was made during the summer, when the CSO reported revised numbers that showed the economy had surged 26.3% in 2015. The numbers gave rise to the infamous jibe of “leprechaun economics” by economist Paul Krugman.

The surge was due to the transfers of intellectual property from overseas onto the balance sheets in Ireland by one or more unidentified multinationals which were rearranging their global tax arrangements. The numbers were compiled under Eurostat rules, but the activities of multinationals make it difficult to get a clear picture of what is happening to the underlying economy here.