The Government should spend some of Apple’s €13 billion tax bill on building new hospitals, the IMO has suggested. 

The Taoiseach has said the windfall cannot be used for day-to-day spending and promised Cabinet would discuss the matter “soon”. 

IMO President Dr Denis McCauley said healthcare infrastructure is exactly the kind of capital project the State should consider spending the money on. 

“I would love to have a few Apple hospitals actually,” he said. 

“That would be the best way of actually doing it. 

“I think a once off injection of capital resources should be used in a fitting way so that we can always look back on it as money well spent.” 

The interior of the new National Children's Hospital under construction at the St James's site in November 2022. Picture by: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Dr McCauley said the State needs to create more bed capacity and the best way to do that is to build more hospitals. 

“I think the building of hospitals all over the country to allow long-term beds would be a very fitting way to use this money,” he said. 

“I think it would be particularly so because of the deficit we have at present; we are 5,000 hospital beds short in Ireland.”

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien has suggested part of the €13 billion could be spent building more houses.

Main image: Construction underway on the site of the new National Children's Hospital in Dublin. Image: BAM Ireland