{"id":648949,"date":"2026-08-21T11:28:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T11:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/648949\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T11:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T11:28:13","slug":"details-of-taoiseachs-correspondence-with-tech-giant-apple-withheld-on-security-grounds-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/648949\/","title":{"rendered":"Details of Taoiseach\u2019s correspondence with tech giant Apple withheld on security grounds \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin\u2019s<\/a> office has refused to release details of correspondence it had with tech giant Apple<\/a> earlier this year, citing sensitivities around security, defence and international relations.<\/p>\n

Some of the world\u2019s biggest tech companies lobbied the Government on Europe\u2019s economic competitiveness and regulations, artificial intelligence<\/a>, and online safety for children in advance of Ireland\u2019s EU<\/a> presidency.<\/p>\n

Newly released records show the topics major companies such as Google<\/a> and Apple raised, while there were discussions between Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers<\/a> and OpenAI<\/a> on how Ireland could act as \u201ca bridge\u201d between the US and Europe.<\/p>\n

The Government has been under scrutiny on how it will manage politically sensitive topics such as tech regulation, and any changes to the bloc\u2019s digital rules, for the six months Ireland will be chairing EU policy debates.<\/p>\n

The country holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union is tasked with being a neutral broker in negotiations involving the other 26 member states, to steer the discussion towards agreed positions.<\/p>\n

Ireland hosts the European bases of several tech giants, but the Taoiseach has previously rejected any suggestion the Government would go to bat for US tech multinationals in Brussels.<\/p>\n

Records released under Freedom of Information laws show Apple chief executive Tim Cook<\/a> wrote to Martin after the pair met at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January.<\/p>\n

A section of the February 9th letter was redacted in the release on the basis information was obtained \u201cin confidence\u201d, some of which was \u201ccommercially sensitive\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Tech firms lobby EU commissioner Michael McGrath in advance of law targeting addictive appsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

After this redacted section, Cook\u2019s letter reads: \u201cI remain hopeful that a renewed focus on competitiveness can help address these concerns in a constructive manner to benefit Europe and Ireland\u2019s economies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Subsequent correspondence from the Taoiseach to Apple on February 25th was withheld from the release by the Department of the Taoiseach<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The reasons given were \u201cdeliberations of FOI bodies\u201d; \u201csecurity, defence and international relations\u201d; and \u201cinformation obtained in confidence\u201d.<\/p>\n

Separately, a Government statement said the Taoiseach had a call with Cook on June 29th.<\/p>\n

It said topics discussed \u201cincluded Apple\u2019s new online safety features\u201d as well as \u201cwider economic developments, including digital regulation, and Ireland\u2019s presidency of the Council of the EU\u201d.<\/p>\n

Records also show a series of recent contacts between Google\u2019s top lobbyist Kent Walker and the Taoiseach, as well as Chambers. <\/p>\n

Walker, Google\u2019s president of global affairs, met Martin on February 9th. Minutes of the meeting show that \u201cdigital and AI regulation\u201d were discussed, as well as \u201ccompetitiveness challenges at EU level\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a subsequent letter from Walker to Martin, he wrote Google \u201cparticularly appreciate[s]\u201d Ireland\u2019s commitment to making Europe more competitive and \u201cyour advocacy for digital simplification\u201d.<\/p>\n

The latter comment was a reference to work under way in Brussels to streamline and pare back certain EU regulations covering artificial intelligence and tech.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to Ireland taking on the presidency of the EU in July, and stand ready to support in any way we can,\u201d he told the Taoiseach.<\/p>\n

Separate records show Walker welcomed Chambers to Google\u2019s headquarters in Mountain View, California, on April 30th.<\/p>\n

A Department of Public Expenditure note of the meeting said Walker \u201chighlighted some priorities\u201d including \u201cadvancing responsible innovation\u201d and \u201conline safety \u2013 including parental controls and guardrails\u201d.<\/p>\n

Google has a \u201csafe search\u201d function for children as part of its search engine as well as a stand-alone YouTube Kids app for its video-sharing website.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Jim O\u2019Callaghan requested \u2018unoppressive\u2019 Irish traditional music for EU ministersOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In response to queries on the lobbying, a Google spokesman told The Irish Times: \u201cWe have an important, collaborative relationship with leaders all over the world on the issues that relate to our business.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur products and services deliver significant economic and social benefits to businesses and individuals in Ireland and across Europe, and so we will continue to champion measures that support competitiveness and success across the continent.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Government statement said the discussion at the meeting between Walker and the Taoiseach was \u201cwide-ranging\u201d.<\/p>\n

It said: \u201cOn digital regulation, the Taoiseach referenced the Government\u2019s updated national digital and AI strategy, Digital Ireland, which includes a commitment to strengthening Ireland\u2019s position as an EU centre of excellence and digital regulatory hub.\u201d<\/p>\n

It added that the strategy includes a commitment to \u201censuring that our digital regulators are sufficiently resourced to support the discharge of their regulatory responsibilities, reflecting the expansion of the EU\u2019s digital regulatory framework\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin\u2019s office has refused to release details of correspondence it had with tech giant Apple earlier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[311,289,79,151398,18,2219,823,19,17,26736,5765,307,310],"class_list":["post-648949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-apple","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-business","tag-department-of-the-taoiseach","tag-eire","tag-european-union","tag-google","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jack-chambers","tag-micheal-martin","tag-openai","tag-tim-cook"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=648949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}