Apple tax receipts could help cut Ireland's debt pile - S&P

The European Commission's ruling that Apple should pay 13 billion euros of back-dated taxes could help Ireland reduce its debt significantly but may undermine the Irish government in the process, Standard & Poor's told Reuters on Thursday. "There are many uncertainties ahead but if we assume that the money will definitely come through, the sum of 13 billion euros is not insignificant for an economy the size of Ireland," said Moritz Kraemer, the ratings agency's chief European sovereign ratin