A man looks at his phone as he walks past an authorised apple reseller store in Galway, Ireland August 30, 2016. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
DUBLIN: Faced with a US$14.5bil (RM59.18bil) windfall after an EU ruling on Apple's tax affairs, carer Louise O'Reilly knew exactly what the Irish government should do with the money: spend it on pensioners who are struggling to get by.
In fact the penalty, which the EU Commission on Aug 30 ordered Apple to pay as back taxes to Ireland, would cover the country's entire annual health service bill or 6% of its national debt.
