Taoiseach Enda Kenny has declared the European Commission's recent ruling that Apple owes Ireland €13 billion in taxes to be "profoundly wrong".

Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, Kenny said:

"We are entitled as a sovereign nation to set the level of corporate tax that we believe is appropriate as an attractive element for foreign direct investment here to create jobs and opportunities for people to work and live in our country."

He argued that accepting the decision would send the "signal of having willfully and intentionally involved ourselves in something illegal".

Touching on the fact that some of the €13bn "could belong to other countries", Kenny also pointed out while the European Commission was "perfectly entitled" to look at the State aid issue, they were not entitled to determine that the country would become "a global tax collector for Apple".

"Apple have paid what they're due," he affirmed.

Looking ahead to Budget 2017, Kenny acknowledged the "sacrifices" made by the Irish people following the economic crash which leaves us in a "better position" today than we were.

He said that he didn't want "to wreck that process" and that the Department of Finance would move with a "very steady hand" in October.

"We want to keep our progress maintained," Kenny concluded. "We want to build on that, and we have opportunity even though these are very challenging times."

Watch the full interview on the Newstalk Facebook page.