Part of Apple’s €13 billion tax payment should be spent on housing, Darragh O’Brien has said.

Yesterday, the European Court of Justice ruled the Irish Government had given the US tech giant illegal State aid, and ordered Ireland to accept the billions of Euro that have been sitting in an escrow account for the past eight years.

Referring to it as a “significant amount of money unquestionably”, Minister O’Brien said the issue was discussed at Cabinet but no decision yet had been made on what to spend it on. 

“Obviously because it’s only a one-off tax receipt, my own view is it should be invested in infrastructure [and] housing is obviously an important element of it,” he told Newstalk Breakfast.  

Last year, the Government announced the creation of two wealth funds on the back of surging levels of corporation tax receipts. 

The Future Ireland Fund will be used to pay for the State’s ageing population, digitalisation and what the Government describes as “other fiscal and economic challenges”. 

The Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund will pay for climate change, nature conservation and biodiversity challenges. 

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe during a photocall prior to delivering their Budget 2024 speeches. Photograph: Government Information Service.

Minister O’Brien hinted much of the €13 billion will be paid into one or both of the two funds. 

“We have set up the Future Ireland Fund - that’s the right thing to do,” he said. 

“We have our Climate Fund as well to invest in our future. 

“We need to make sure that where we’re allocating the money has the capacity to actually deliver on that too. 

“It’s certainly something we’ll discuss with Government colleagues and set a pathway forward.” 

A builder fitting insulation in a new home. Image: Ian Allenden / Alamy Stock Photo

Regardless of where the money is spent, Minister O’Brien said he expected the number of homes built this year to be noticeably higher than the 32,695 completed last year. 

“This year, both public and private will probably spend around 13, 14 billion on housing between the State and private investment in delivering a significant amount of homes,” he said. 

“Probably in the high 30,000s - maybe even 40,000s this year.” 

In May, the Government promised to set out new housing targets this autumn, following a leaked intervention by the Housing Commission which speculated as many as 62,000 new homes might need to be built annually. 

Main image: Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien. Picture by: Alamy.com