Tim Cook visited Ireland today to collect an award from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for Apple's 40 years of investment in the country. Apple's CEO also met with Irish musician Hozier and Dublin-based game studio WarDucks.
In 2016, the European Commission found that Apple received illegal state aid from Ireland and forced the company to repay 13 billion euros in back taxes. Apple and Ireland are both appealing the ruling. Apple has previously expressed confidence that the ruling "will be overturned" by European courts.
In that regard, Cook today called for global corporate tax reform, telling Reuters and others that Apple "desperately" wants the system to be fair. "It's very complex to know how to tax a multinational," he added.
"I think logically everybody knows it needs to be rehauled, I would certainly be the last person to say that the current system or the past system was the perfect system. I'm hopeful and optimistic that they will find something," said Cook, referring to the intergovernmental economic organization OECD.
What an amazing welcome back to Ireland! Thank you @Hozier for sharing your music with me, and for the chance to look around the studio. Feel free to reach out if you ever need some backup vocals. š¶ pic.twitter.com/Opfka0j2UK ā Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 19, 2020
.@War_Ducks set out to create a game with fun, engaging and colorful characters, and they nailed it. Awesome to see how @NikkiLannen and her talented team in Dublin are embracing AR to take their games to the next level! pic.twitter.com/bjL15fWlPY ā Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 20, 2020
Celebrating 40 years of Apple in Ireland with our remarkable and growing team at Hollyhill! Your hard work and dedication to our customers and the communities we serve reflects the best of what we stand for. Hereās to the next 40! š®šŖ pic.twitter.com/ADiRz3yoOP ā Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 20, 2020
Update: IDA Ireland has issued a press release about Apple's award that includes a statement from Cook:
Ireland has been a second home for Apple for forty years and this honour is even more special for us because it recognizes the contributions of our incredible team here who work tirelessly to serve our customers around the country, and around the world. I believe deeply that our most important work together is still ahead of us, and I'm grateful to the people of Ireland for their commitment to openness, to innovation and to the cooperation that will make possible the next generation of world-changing ideas.
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