The Government has finalised an agreement with Apple over the management of an escrow account into which its contested €13 billion tax bill will be paid.

The account should be functioning by the end of March.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe met European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager in Brussels on Monday to confirm that tendering for the management of the account – the two roles of custodians to safeguard the money, and investment managers to handle the bonds – will be completed by the end of January.

The Government is required under EU rules to engage in a tendering process.

Money from Apple will start to be paid into the account from the first quarter of 2018, the Minister said.

The Commission in October had routinely initiated proceedings against the Government for its failure to recover the tax, which had been ruled by the Commission as an illegal favouring of the company by the Irish authorities. The Government has denied favouring Apple and has joined the company in appealing the original ruling.

Pending the European Court of Justice decision, Ireland was told to hold the disputed tax in an independently managed escrow account.

The mandate of the fund will be denominated in euro and invested in low-risk assets (primarily fixed-income instruments), with the principal investment objective being to preserve capital to the extent possible.