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Mary Lou McDonald: Household names among figures in tax evasion dossier

The deputy leader of Sinn Féin has claimed "household names" in the Progressive Democrats ...
Newstalk
Newstalk

07.51 12 Nov 2014


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Mary Lou McDonald: Household n...

Mary Lou McDonald: Household names among figures in tax evasion dossier

Newstalk
Newstalk

07.51 12 Nov 2014


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The deputy leader of Sinn Féin has claimed "household names" in the Progressive Democrats and Fianna Fáíl are among figures named in a dossier alleging tax evasion in politics.

The Public Accounts Committee will today meet to decide how to deal with a dossier alleging tax evasion by politicians.

The PAC has to decide whether to get legal advice on holding its own investigation or to hand the files over to the Gardaí.

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TDs will meet in a private session to get legal advice on whether they should investigate themselves, or hand the file to Gardaí.

The dossier was passed on last week by whistleblower Gerry Ryan, who believes the allegations were not fully investigated.

It is understood that committee chairman John McGuinness is keen to compare the dossier to the original files given to Gardaí, to see whether the claims have been investigated already.

Yesterday, the Department of Jobs said a witness statement from the tax evasion whistleblower has now been sent to gardaí.

The department says the statement has been sent to the Bureau of Fraud Investigation, almost two years after it was written by whistleblower Gerry Ryan.

The dossier from Mr Ryan on alleged tax evasion was sent to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last week.

It accuses the Jobs Minister Richard Bruton of refusing to pass on the statement.

However, the Department of Jobs says the statement needed to confirm with certain legal requirements before it could be sent to gardaí, and blamed the delay on staff shortages.

A statement on behalf of Mr Bruton says he is "constrained in what he can say about these matters as they may be the subject of investigations and future courtcases."

"As the Minister said in his comprehensive statement on Saturday, all matters contained in the statement are covered by the documents already submitted during the years 2004-2010 to the relevant authorities."

"Bodies like the Revenue Commissioners, the ODCE, the gardaí, the DPP and tribunals are independent precisely to ensure that politicians are kept out of investigating issues like tax evasion."

"It would be extremely unwise for any Minister or politician to get involved or interfere in any way with investigations by these bodies, and Minister Bruton has been careful to respect these principles throughout this process," it adds.


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