FINALLY, the Irish people might start seeing some of that unpaid tax money being put back into the country.
Tech giants Apple, who have been operating a European headquarters in Cork, Ireland since 1980, have agreed to repay the €13 billion in taxes owed to Ireland.
Last year, the European Commission ordered Apple to pay the fee following the revelation that the company had been exploiting unfair tax incentives in the country for years.
It's understood that Apple will start paying the €13 billion in back taxes into an escrow account in the first quarter of 2018.
Both parties have contested the ruling, and are currently awaiting a European Court of Justice decision.
The money will be paid into the escrow account in the interim.
An escrow account is a temporary pass through account held by a third party during the process of a transaction between two parties.
This is a temporary account as it operates until the completion of a transaction process, which is implemented after all the conditions between the buyer and the seller are settled.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said in Brussels today: "We have now reached an agreement with Apple in relation to the principles and operation of the escrow fund.
“We expect the money will begin to be transmitted into the account from Apple across the first quarter of next year,” he added before a meeting with the EU’s Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
If Mr Varadkar wants to prevent further damage to Ireland’s international reputation he will need to turn up the heat on Apple to collect the money. That time has come.
