Irish government to reveal how Apple windfall will be spent

The Irish government is set to give more details of how it intends to spend its €14bn tax windfall from Apple.

The money is being used to beef-up the country’s National Development Plan (NDP), a package of infrastructure investments.

Speaking on Tuesday the Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin said the investments being announced later “will be of a scale that is unprecedented”.

The spending is expected to amount to €100bn between 2026 and 2030 with a further €100bn earmarked for 2030 to 2035.

The money will be focused on basic infrastructure such as wastewater treatment and the electricity grid.

Shortfalls in these areas are adding to Ireland’s chronic housing problems.

The cost and availability of housing remains one of the country’s biggest social, economic and political issues.

In the aftermath of Ireland’s financial crisis in the late 2000s, there was a collapse in public and private sector infrastructure investment.

The country’s economy recovered strongly from that crisis but infrastructure delivery has not kept pace.

The government has the money to tackle the problems as a corporation tax windfall, far larger than the one-off Apple payment, has put the public finances in a healthy position.

However, some economists have cautioned that a lack of capacity in the construction sector and planning delays will limit what can be achieved in the short term.