Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 November 2014
108. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide in tabular form the number of civil servants employed annually in his Department between 2007 and 2014. [44362/14]
View answerThis question relates to the case where a civil servant in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation submitted a witness statement to the Minister which was sought by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation two years ago but which remained on a desk in the Department until recent weeks. It has led me to a query in regard to the resourcing of the Department itself. Will the Minister provide details on what resources were amiss in the Department which led to this vital issue not being dealt with for more than two years?
This is not the question the Deputy asked. He asked for a tabular statement containing the number of civil servants employed in the Department. There were 1,021 employed in 2007, 1,075 in 2008, 994 in 2009, 906 in 2010, 831 in 2011, 788 in 2012, 802 in 2013 and 803 as of today. Those figures reflect changes in responsibility as well as the effect of the employment control framework.
The position in regard to the matter the Deputy raised is that this was an investigation under the Companies Act, initiated back in 1998. All of the files gathered in that investigation were provided to all of the relevant authorities, including the Revenue Commissioners, the tribunals, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and various relevant bodies which had the power to investigate that issue. Arising from that, the officer concerned drew up a witness statement which I decided should be issued and be duly checked before it would be issued, as was required under the Companies Act. The checking of that took longer than expected but that matter was dealt with when the outstanding period was identified, and it has been furnished to the relevant authorities.
The reason I asked about resources was that we were led to believe that resources were a major reason this took so long. Mr. Ryan sent the Minister the statement via an assistant secretary in December 2012. When no action followed, he wrote to the Minister again in 2012 to complain that he had not forwarded this statement to the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, as required of him. It was reported that his correspondence also emphasised the importance of the statement which he believed carried substantial evidence supporting allegations of a conspiracy to defraud the Revenue Commissioners.
In anybody's mind, this is a very serious issue and one which would be a priority for a Minister to deal with, and a priority so strong as to allocate the necessary resources to deal with it. Another year passed and the Minister's office still had not dealt with Mr. Ryan's statement and he clearly had no option but to bring the issue to the Committee of Public Accounts. Mr. Ryan's statement had also been sought by the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation. It is incredible that a resource issue is the basis of a two-year delay in regard to this important detail.
I assure the Deputy that all of the evidence of alleged tax evasion went to the various authorities, including the Revenue Commissioners. The Revenue Commissioners issued a statement outlining the investigation they undertook in respect of various individuals under the Ansbacher accounts. They also went to the Garda, which issued a statement that it has dealt with these issues and a file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions. I assure the Deputy that the issues have been thoroughly passed on in every detail to the various authorities in a position to take enforcement action. Both of the authorities have reported that action has been taken in respect of them.
