I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they are in the very early stages of investigating the use of certain offshore facilities by Irish resident taxpayers to evade tax. The initial work involves the establishment of the facts and if this indicates that there are tax liabilities, action will be taken to recover the undeclared liabilities along with interest and penalties. If the evidence permits, the question of referrals to the Director of Public Prosecutions will also be considered. I am further advised by the Revenue Commissioners that investigations arising from the Ansbacher and NIB issues are progressing satisfactorily and that substantial recoveries of tax, interest and penalties have been made. The Deputy may wish to refer to my replies to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 77 and 24 on Tuesday, 8 April, 2003, in that regard.
Section 26 of the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act 2003 amended various provisions of the Central Bank Act 1942 to make provision for the establishment of the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authoritry. In bringing forward this legislation, one of the innovations I introduced was to open up various gateways for the disclosure of confidential information between the bank and various State agencies such as the Garda, the Revenue Commissioners, the Director of Corporate Enforcement, the Competition Authority and certain other bodies subject to the proviso that such disclosure is not prohibited by EU legislation on supervision of the financial services sector. The Act imposes an obligation on the Central Bank to report to the Revenue Commissioners any information that leads it to suspect that a criminal offence, including tax evasion, may have been committed by a supervised financial entity.
Apart from the role of developing the legal framework for financial services regulation, the Minister for Finance has no general statutory function in regard to day to day supervision of the financial services sector. It will be clear, however, from the information set out above that the relevant authorities, in accordance with their statutory remits, have both the power and the duty to consult with one another in regard to the sort of issue raised by the Deputy. I have not intervened directly in this matter with the agencies or office holders mentioned by the Deputy.
