The answer to Deputy Noonan's question is "yes". I have also been in receipt of private correspondence from Deputy Cooper-Flynn. She has also informed me that she has tendered her resignation as a member of the Committee of Public Accounts. I thank Deputy Cooper-Flynn for the service she has rendered to the House as a member of that committee. I also thank her for making a wise choice in putting the interests of the committee ahead of her own interests, and for the promptness of her action which has served this House and the committee by preventing them from becoming involved in further controversy. As I said yesterday, that was the appropriate action for her to take and it is welcome.
The context in which Deputy Cooper-Flynn has tendered her resignation from the committee concerns the outcome last week of the defamation proceedings which she took in the High Court. I understand from Deputy Cooper-Flynn that the case will be heard in the court on this day week. She will then have a period during which to appeal the case, or not. She has informed me that she and her legal team will make a fairly prompt decision based on her legal advice. I have been informed that once the costs are determined, a decision on the appeal will be made. It would be inappropriate for me to comment in detail on the outcome of the proceedings at this stage, given that the matter may yet be the subject of an appeal to the Supreme Court.
There should be no doubt about my position on general principles. Deputy Quinn asked me about the principles that are enunciated in legislation which has been passed by the House. As a former Minister for Finance, I was responsible for putting much of the legislation in this area before the House in the Finance Act, 1992. Tax evasion is wrong and encouraging others to engage in tax evasion is equally wrong. Legislators and institutions, public or private, are all bound as good citizens to observe and uphold the rule of law. As stated previously, the action of some banks and their employees in encouraging and facilitating tax evasion, as established by the DIRT inquiry, was reprehensible. The days when individuals or corporate bodies, however high their public standing, could afford to adopt a cavalier attitude to the tax laws are long gone. It would save a great deal of pain if, in future, everyone recognised that and obeyed the law.
Deputy Cooper-Flynn took a civil action in relation to defamation and we are aware of the outcome. Like everyone else, the Deputy is neither above nor below the law. I believe, as do the majority of Members of the House, that she is entitled to due process and full accountability. I wish her well in whatever decision she is obliged to take.
