The Government is insisting the US company Apple did not receive selective treatment and was taxed fully in accordance with the law.
The statement - which reiterates that "Ireland is confident that there is no breach of State aid rules in this case" - from the Department of Finance comes as the European Commission is reportedly expected to make a finding that Apple did benefit from illegal tax deals in Ireland for more than two decades.
The Government says the document to be published by the Commission does not contain any ruling, but will rather set out that it is examining allegations.
The Department statement explains, "it is expected that a final decision in relation to this investigation will take a considerable period of time. The purpose of the publication of the Opening Decision is to give interested parties the opportunity to submit comments directly to the European Commission."
The Financial Times today reports the Commission is set to unveil details of a probe that could leave the iPhone maker with a record fine of several billions of euro.
The newspaper quotes sources involved in the case who say preliminary findings show the technology giant benefited from illegal state aid after doing a backroom deals with the government. It has previously been reported some of the company's Irish subsidiaries have had a tax rate of only around 2%.
Business Correspondent with the Irish Times Tom Lyons says he won't be surprised if Europe decides there are questions to be answered:
The Commission launched its investigation into the tax arrangements between Apple and the Irish government after US senate hearings last year highlighted that billions of dollars in profits were shifted out of the US to international subsidiaries.
The Department of Finance has previously said it is confident there was no State aid breach and that it will defend its position "vigorously".
The statement added, "we understand that the European Commission has a responsibility to investigate potential breaches of state aid rules, so we will continue to do everything we can to ensure that they have the full information they require".
Apple has said it "pays every euro of every tax that we owe. Since the iPhone launched in 2007, our taxes in Ireland have increased tenfold".
EU countries have promised to crack down on loopholes which have allowed companies such as Amazon, Starbucks and Apple to pay tiny amounts of tax on their European operations.
Last November, the Commission unveiled plans to prevent firms from setting up 'letter-box' companies in different countries to reduce their tax bill.
The EU executive estimates that tax avoidance and evasion in the EU cost about €1 trillion each year.
Apple was revealed to be paying low tax rates on their profits made outside the US by designating its office in Cork - where it employs around 4,000 people - as the company's international headquarters.
Originally posted at 8:00am
