Revealed: IDA’s secret Apple data centre deal

The €850 million project has been dogged by controversy and could still be delayed by a further planning appeal

The politicians and Apple were initially told the amount would be relatively small – €200 million to €300 million. The €13 billion came out of the blue, confusing a system that then rapidly went into paralysis as everyone tried to work out what to do.

Apple only finalised the purchase of land from the IDA on which it planned to build a controversial data centre more than a year after initially agreeing to acquire the site, The Sunday Business Post can reveal, a move that potentially left the state exposed.

The €850 million project, first announced in February 2015, has been dogged by controversy and could still be delayed by a further planning appeal.

Apple wrote to the ...