Irish debt agency to procure custodian for Apple state aid fund
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E-mail Xinhua, July 23, 2017
DUBLIN, July 22 (Xinhua) -- The Irish government on Saturday appointed the country's debt agency NTMA to procure a custodian for Apple state aid fund.
In a statement, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said that given the NTMA's existing functions and expertise, the agency has been appointed to run the procurement processes.
In Ireland, the NTMA is responsible for borrowing on behalf of the government and managing the national debt.
He said the government "is fully committed to ensuring that recovery of the Apple state aid takes place without delay", adding that the government "has committed significant resources to ensuring this is achieved, notwithstanding the appeal lodged in 2016".
In November last year, the government formally lodged its appeal against the European Commission's ruling that Ireland granted illegal state aid of up to 13 billion euros to Apple.
The recovery sums will be paid into an escrow fund pending the outcome of legal proceedings, according to the statement.
"Given the scale and bespoke nature of such a fund, the precise terms are still being negotiated and are subject to confidential and commercially sensitive considerations but will involve the appointment of independent third party service providers," it said.
The size of the escrow fund has yet to be confirmed, but it may be circa 13-15 billion euros, including EU interest, the statement said.
The escrow fund will be denominated in euro and will be invested in low risk assets, primarily fixed income instruments, it said. Enditem
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