20-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
The Sunday Independent's View: Ministers cannot afford to squander Apple billions
Too many ministers in decades past have been forced to make the more painful decisions of where to impose cuts rather than splash the cash.
With great riches comes great responsibility, however, and the Cabinet's failure to agree the figures on Friday was a telling insight into the strength of the competing demands made by ministers to ensure their departments do not miss out on the billions — not least from the Apple windfall. Time is tight, with the Government expected to approve the plan on Tuesday.
The Taoiseach and Tánaiste accordingly met again this weekend to thrash out the final details, but negotiations are clearly continuing until the last moment. Housing, health and transport are among the areas where agreement has yet to be reached.
From the outside, it appears a no-brainer. Housing remains far and away the biggest concern in every opinion poll.
Our EU partners are looking to Ireland to shoulder a fair share of collective security
Even if there were no political self-interest for the Government to answer that call, some basic empathy for people struggling to meet the cost of rents and mortgages — or even get a toe on the property ladder in the first place — would demand they allocate as much as possible of the money to alleviating that crisis.
Health is, likewise, an area where increased investment remains an irrefutable necessity.
The one area that stands out this time around is defence. When TDs with euro signs in their eyes were salivating over how to spend the unexpected Apple windfall before November's general election, defence did not really get a look-in.
Things are different now. With no end in sight to the war in Ukraine, our EU partners are increasingly looking to Ireland to shoulder a fair share of the burden of collective security.
That may prove a hard sell to the public, who did not expect those extra billions to go on jets and an expanded Naval Service, but the days when Ireland could rely on others to protect our seas and shores are surely coming to an end.
There are always other unwelcome expenses too. The European Court of Justice is expected to rule soon that asylum-seekers are entitled to sue the State if they are denied accommodation on arrival in the country. Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan said this would be 'very hard to justify' to Irish citizens whose own homeless people have no such legal right, but it is probably not a battle Ireland can win.
As every household knows, finding the money for such unforeseen expenses can stretch the family budget to breaking point.
Regrettably, the old proverb also holds true: eaten bread is soon forgotten. Excited politicians were minded to view money from Apple as the answer to all their dearest wishes. Once spent, the demands on the public purse will start again. With Donald Trump's tariffs still set to bite, it could be that the revenue available for any future development plans will be significantly down.
