EARLIER THIS WEEK, the Department of Finance published financial statements for the escrow account that was being used to hold the Apple Tax money.

The account was closed in May of this year, with a total sum of almost €14.25b transferred to the exchequer.

Apple had originally transferred €14.3b to the account in 2018 ahead of its appeal against the European Commission decision, which found that the company owed Ireland €13.1b plus interest of €1.2b.

So what happens now?

You may be thinking, ‘We haven’t heard about this money in a while, what’s the government’s plan for it?’

A lot will be revealed next week when the Department of Public Expenditure publishes its review of the National Development Plan for 2026-2035.

This plan sets out the government’s scheme to build infrastructure over the coming years, including things like rail, roads, electricity connections and sewage schemes.

Next week, the publication of the review will set out how some of the €14b in Apple Tax will be spent.

It will also set out spending plans for the proceeds from the sale of AIB shares, and money from other State funds, including the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund.

The government has previously said that Apple money will be used to invest in our stock of critical infrastructure — housing, energy, water and transport – instead of paying for day-to-day spending.

But other than that, we haven’t been told much more about what exactly the money will be used for. 

Ahead of last year’s general election, all parties outlined their ideas for how the money should be spent, with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael differing slightly in how they would split it. 

Fianna Fáil pledged to focus on five key infrastructure areas – housing, the electricity grid, water infrastructure, transport and health digitalisation, while Fine Gael promised to allocate €10b for housing and €4b on energy, water and transport.

Given that it’s Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin who holds the Taoiseach’s office at the moment, we can expect to see the actual spending skew towards his party’s priorities. 

Specifically, Fianna Fáil wanted to see €4b of the money allocated to the Land Development Agency (LDA) to build housing. 

Fine Gael wanted to use the money they had ringfenced for housing to extend the first-time buyer supports, including increasing the Help to Buy grant from €30,000 to €40,000 — something we already know has not made its way into the Programme for Government. 

A Fine Gael source pushed back on the notion that it will be Fianna Fáil in the driving seat, insisting that final decisions on spending have not yet been agreed.

It’s understood that government leaders are set to meet with Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers over the weekend to flesh out the final plan on how the NDP cookie will crumble. 

So for now, we wait.