Apple has already said that it will appeal the ruling, with its CEO Tim Cook describing the decision yesterday as “political crap”.

But before it can appeal against the ruling there will have to be a vote taken in the Irish parliament to back the move.

Ireland currently has a minority government.

It’s believed the cabinet’s decision to challenge the ruling will be because the government wants a full investigation into the matter to avoid any suspicion that it had colluded with Apple in helping it to avoid tax.

In other words, this case is going to rumble on and it may be quite some time, if ever, before Cook has to put his hands into the company’s coffers and stump up a large sum of money.