Apple tax windfall: How will the Irish government spend €14bn?

The most boring and conservative thing the government could do is to reduce the country’s national debt.

At the end of last year, Ireland’s net government debt was about €181bn (£152.7bn)

So using the entire windfall on debt repayment would reduce it by almost 8%.

That would help cut the amount the government has to pay in debt interest and give the country a bit more breathing space if there is an economic downturn.

However, there is no great urgency do this as the debt is not particularly high by international standards.

As a proportion of national income, net debt is about 60% compared to the UK where it is about 100%.

There had been a suggestion that under EU rules the money would have to be used on debt reduction but Ireland’s Finance Minister Jack Chambers says that it is not the case.