Galway Bay fm newsroom - Apple boss Tim Cook says the tech giant may consider locating another data centre in Ireland.
It's after its efforts to locate a data centre in Athenry failed due to legal appeals, with a Supreme Court case still pending.
There was widespread disappointment in Athenry and across the west last month after the announcement that Apple was abandoning its plans for an 850 million euro data centre.
During a visit to Apple's base in Cork this week, Apple boss Tim Cook restated the company’s commitment to its Irish operations.
According to the Irish Times, the tech giant head said he would welcome changes proposed by the Government to planning rules that would reduce time limits for some planning applications and tighten the rules for who is eligible to take judicial review proceedings.
The Apple boss said that when its requirements dictated that Apple needed to expand its data centre capacity, it would consider Ireland again.
Mr Cook said the company respected the Irish planning process, adding it just needed to work more quickly to provide certainty for businesses trying to make decisions that impacted their future.
He dismissed any suggestion that changes to Ireland’s corporation tax regime would impact on Apple’s commitment to operations here.
Apple employs 6,000 people in Ireland, with the majority based at its operations in Cork.
