Vol. 557 No. 1
79 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Finance when it is intended to introduce legislation that will oblige the Central Bank to inform the Revenue Commissioners of tax evasion measures being operated by financial institutions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21287/02]
I intend to introduce a Committee Stage amendment to the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Bill, 2002, which will impose an obligation on the bank to report to the Revenue Commissioners any information that leads the bank to suspect that a criminal offence of tax evasion may have been committed by a supervised financial institution. The bank will also be obliged to report to the Revenue Commissioners any failure by a financial institution to report suspected cases of money laundering of the proceeds of tax evasion.
The Bill has already passed its Second Stage in this House and has been referred to the Select Committee on Finance and the Public Service. I hope the committee will be in a position to debate the Bill in the coming weeks.
