The publication every three months by the Revenue Commissioners of a list of tax defaulters has been going on for a number of years, so much so that it has become a regular feature of Irish life. However, the publication last Friday of another list of tax defaulters, mainly the holders of bogus non-resident offshore accounts, who have been caught red-handed and forced to pay more than €35 million in tax, interest and penalties to the Revenue Commissioners, is a stark reminder of the extent to which people have been evading their taxes. In addition, the statement from the Revenue Commissioners shows 586 unpublished statements totalling €102 million in respect of settlements other than bogus non-resident accounts.
The sheer scale of the list is breathtaking, some 419 tax cheats spread over more than 40 pages of Iris Oifigiúil. These are people who would, no doubt, regard themselves as pillars of society, the great and the good of the community, yet they engaged in a systematic campaign over many years to defraud the Revenue and effectively rob compliant taxpayers.
It must be stressed, time and time again, that tax evasion is not a victimless crime. Every pound unlawfully evaded by those on the list was an additional pound on the tax bill of compliant citizens. Every pound successfully evaded was a pound less for essential public services such as health and education. What is even worse is that this criminal evasion was going on at a time when compliant taxpayers and particularly PAYE workers were being asked to endure what was close to a penal rate of taxation in order to keep those essential services going.
The DIRT inquiry, in which I am glad to have played a part, has brought in just short of €600 million for the Exchequer. Those whose names appeared in Iris Oifigiúil last Friday are people who refused to avail of the voluntary disclosure scheme announced in 2001 which would have allowed them to settle their tax liabilities without having their names made public. The fact that so many failed to avail of that scheme suggests that many of those involved in tax evasion calculated that there was a reasonable chance they would not be detected and the risk of public ignominy was worth taking.
All of this suggests that there is still a culture of tax evasion in certain quarters in this country and that many people regard the prospect of exposure and the imposition of penalties as a risk worth taking in view of the huge sums of money involved in successful evasion. It emphasises the need for us as legislators to continue to close off loopholes that facilitate evasion and the need for the Revenue Commissioners to systematically pursue evasion. It is time that we grew up in this country and shunned the "cute hoorism" and greed of blatant tax evasion.
Unfortunately, the evidence again suggests that equivocation on tax evasion is alive and well within the biggest party in the House. People have been quite rightly shocked and angered that a Member of this House should have been included in the list published on Friday last. There are many questions for Deputy Collins that require immediate answers. Rather than going to ground in west Limerick he should avail of the opportunity to make a personal statement in the House. When did he open the bogus non-resident account? When was it closed? Did he have other bogus non-resident accounts? He should say whether he availed of the 1993 amnesty and, if not, why he did not do so, given that it was in itself an offence not to avail of the amnesty if his tax affairs were not in order. He should say why he did not avail of the voluntary disclosure scheme. Deputy Collins should also say if he is satisfied that he supplied all the relevant information to the Revenue Commissioners when he applied for a tax clearance certificate subsequent to the election. Finally, he should say, given what we now know, how he felt able to sign a statutory declaration solemnly and sincerely declaring that he was in compliance with the obligations imposed by the tax Acts.
There are even more important questions for the Taoiseach to answer. On Friday last we heard him give a carefully constructed answer to a question, which was clearly designed to give the impression that he knew nothing of Deputy Collins's tax evasion. Yesterday, we heard a quite different answer, confirming that he knew for some months that the Deputy had tax issues with the Revenue and, last night, a further clarification from his spokesperson, confirming that he had known about the situation since June. Surely his responsibility as party leader and Taoiseach was to call in Deputy Collins and ask him to outline the exact nature of the issues he had with the Revenue Commissioners. Why was it that the internal party investigation was only announced after the issue became public, although the Taoiseach had known about it for some months?
The Taoiseach's lack of action in this case mirrors his handling of the Denis Foley affair in early 2000. On that occasion the Taoiseach had known for a number of weeks that Deputy Foley had issues with the Revenue Commissioners but left him in the sensitive position of vice chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts. On that occasion too, the Taoiseach was only stirred into belated action when the matter became public.
The only conclusion that can be drawn is that Fianna Fáil will act against tax cheats in its own ranks only when the matter becomes public. That has been the history with Ray Burke, Liam Lawlor, Beverly Cooper-Flynn, Denis Foley and, now, Michael Collins. When Fianna Fáil is no longer prepared to welcome those who have been identified as tax cheats into its own ranks and into its corporate tent at the Galway Races, then and only then will we be able to believe what the Taoiseach and other Ministers say about there being no tolerance of the culture of tax evasion within that party.
