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Dáil talk
State of the Nation: Does Apple have a 'sweetheart' tax deal with Ireland?
Here’s everything you need to know about what’s happening in Irish politics right now…
EACH WEEKDAY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you a comprehensive guide to what’s happening in the political world.
Everyone’s talking about…
It’s the story that won’t go away for the government and we’re not talking about John McNulty. The Financial Times is reporting this morning that the EU is to accuse Apple of taking illegal state aid from Ireland after negotiating ‘sweetheart’ tax deals over two decades.
A European Commission investigation into the tech giant’s tax affairs in Ireland, where it has a rate of less than 2 per cent, will say as much in its preliminary findings according to the FT’s main story which will not make for pleasant reading in Government Buildings this morning.
Elsewhere, we’re not expecting that McNulty story to go away this week. Fianna Fáil are promising to push the matter in the Dáil this week and what will the Taoiseach have to say about weekend reports of his family’s ties with McNulty?
The agenda
- The Dáil and Seanad resume tomorrow.
- Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan is in New York to meet with UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and make a keynote address to the General Assembly.
- Councillors in Cork City will meet tonight to discuss cutting local property tax by the maximum 15 per cent.
- Hearings to confirm the next set of European Commissioners, including our own Phil Hogan, get under way in Brussels. Here’s a handy guide from Brian Hayes.
- In the UK, the Conservative Party Conference is getting under way in Birmingham.
- All this week TheJournal.ie is running a special series on homelessness examining the crisis in its social, political and economic context. Follow and contribute here.
What the others are saying…
- The Irish Independent and Irish Times are both reporting that Phil Hogan is denying that he knew how much Irish Water was spending on consultants.
- The Irish Independent reports that the broadcasting charge, which is due to replace the TV licence fee, will be delayed until after the next election.
Inside Leinster House…
One member of the Dáil Technical Group is cheekily referring to his new colleagues from the Reform Alliance – Lucinda Creighton and Peter Mathews – as the ‘Soldiers of Christ’ and joked last week: “I think we’ll be starting each meeting with a prayer.”
In case you missed it…
- New talks on Northern Ireland are set to involve the Irish and British governments.
- An official complaint has been made to gardaí over a scuffle in Roscommon involving a Fine Gael TD.
- Check out our essential guide to the John McNulty debacle.
- You didn’t miss much from Alan Shatter’s Late Late Show interview on Friday night.
Finally, on the tweet machine
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