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Updated: 16:34
THE TAOISEACH dismissed claims the government makes specific deals with Apple or any other multinational companies with regards to its corporation tax rate.
Discussing his meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier today, Enda Kenny said that Ireland is “participating fully” in EU discussions about its corporate tax rate, and mentioned the issue to him during their meeting. He said that the country has a legally-based statutory rate of 12.5 per cent that applies to all companies.
I pointed out to Cook that Ireland, as a member of the [European] Union, is participating in the OECD discussions that are taking place now about an international response in terms of clarity about the tax position. There are fifteen different sectors involving that and Ireland is participating in them all.
Kenny didn’t say if it was himself or Cook who brought the subject up, but said that the Apple CEO was “exceptionally happy” with the work the Cork office has done.
When asked whether this would mean further investment from the company, Kenny said that it was a matter for Apple to decide, but said that for now, the company is “very happy with the results from Cork and they want that to continue.”
Cook addressed staff in the company’s Cork office this morning before he met the Taoiseach. Kenny had a tour of the plant first before meeting with Cook to discuss Apple’s presence here.
The Hollyhill plant employs more than 4,000 people in the office, and was Apple’s first office outside of the US. It’s the assembly point for the MacBook Pro laptop and was previously responsible for Apple’s original iMac machine.
Apple recorded another successful quarter after it announced it made a $13.1 billion profit earlier this week. The company sold 51 million iPhones and 26 million iPads during this period.
The Taoiseach also attended a jobs announcement in Mahon earlier this afternoon, where two Cork companies announced the creation of 200 new jobs over the next few years.
Originally published 11:17am
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Wife is getting induced tomorrow with our first child. Bricking it. Not just because of the changes it will bring but worried about them both. Still can’t take in the magnitude of it all but hoping that just being there for her throughout it all will help her.
“Forget about all the advice”… Offers advice!
The best advice I received was to treat the first three months as the fourth trimester. Take to the bed as often as you want/need, breastfeed as much as baba wants, bond, snuggle, have loads of skin to skin contact, sleep whenever you can. Don’t put pressure on yourself to get back out into the world. Those first 12 weeks are a blur, give you and your baby time to get to know each other before venturing outside your bubble. And you’re not alone if you wonder what the f**k have I done! It gets easier!
My daughter in law, who’s Colombian, had a baby three months ago, her second, my sons first. She’s breastfeeding, carries the baby everywhere in a sling and I can honestly say that he’s the quietest, most contented child I’ve ever met! I, a mum of 6, am in awe. We can learn from those less well developed countries, where people still practice the basics. In the first world, we are too concerned with having all the latest gadgets, the prettiest clothes and the horrendously expensive prams and buggies.
Being a parent, the toughest best thing ever, most head wrecking rewarding job going!
Eventually it becomes normal to eat a full roast dinner at ten am cause your up at 5am every morning!!
As a father of two young children I know from experience new mothers are initially reluctant to accept support and like to think they can do everything. They gradually come around though.
It’s a bit hard to ignore the mess when you have OCD. Trust me.
There is nothing wrong with checking out some of Gina Ford advise. It is good to have routines for both parents and child especially if a baby struggles with naps. Other advise regarding preparing meals was also useful to us.
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