Apple 'very committed to Cork': Taoiseach visits Hollyhill campus

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visited the Apple campus in Hollyhill today, and while there he said he was delighted to visit Apple again, describing the company as one of the biggest employers in the country and a major taxpayer.

Mr Varadkar noted that work was well underway on the construction of a new office development at the Hollyhill campus, a new building which will have capacity for up to 1,300 employees, and is expected to be open in the next two years.

“It does show that company is very committed to Cork, and to Ireland, and I think of particular significance is that it does show there will be more jobs in the tech sector in the medium to long term,” the Taoiseach said.

Asked by media about the current loss of tech sector jobs, Mr Varadkar acknowledged that the sector was undergoing a downsizing which he said was still ongoing.

“But I am convinced in the medium to long term that we are going to see a lot more tech jobs in Ireland.

“Why do I think that? Because the future is digital. The future is artificial intelligence. The future is virtual reality. The future is robotics,” he said.

“There is only going to be more of that in the medium to long term and when I visit schools and I talk to young people, I always encourage them to continue to study science, technology, engineering and maths precisely for that reason.

“Because this is going to be a growth sector in the medium to long term,” Mr Varadkar said.

Asked whether he intended to discuss the Apple tax case, in which the European Commission ordered Apple to pay €13 billion, plus interest, in unpaid taxes to the State, the Taoiseach said he did not plan to discuss it.

“It is a matter before the European Court of Justice. We would expect a decision in a matter of months. Both Apple and the Government are on the same side here. We think the European Commission has made an error,” he said.

Mr Varadkar said Ireland had won the first part of the Apple tax case, and expected to win the appeal too.

“Bear in mind what this is about. This is about an allegation that twenty years or so ago there was a special arrangement between the Irish Government and one particular company that wasn’t available to other companies. That is not true. That did not happen,” the Taoiseach said.

“Truth and facts are on our side. And the European Court has already ruled in our favour and we expect that we will win the appeal as well.” 

Welcoming the Taoiseach to the Apple campus, Cathy Kearney, VP for European operations at Apple, said the company was proud to be part of the thriving community in Cork, and its teams there were continuing to innovate in service of its customers.

“Over the past five years, Apple has invested over €250m, expanding our Hollyhill campus for our growing team,” Ms Kearney said.

“We’re pleased to welcome the Taoiseach to our new state of the art engineering and test facility and to highlight our plans for continued expansion.” 

Apple opened its Irish operations in Cork on 24 November 1980 – its first manufacturing plant outside the USA - with a single manufacturing facility and some 60 employees.

On the day the Cork campus opened, Apple’s founder, Steve Jobs, and a number of the company’s senior executives, travelled to Ireland to be in Hollyhill as the then-Minister for the Public Service, Gene Fitzgerald, unveiled a commemorative plaque.

Today, the company employs more than 6,000 people at Hollyhill, making it one of the city’s largest private employers.