A PENSIONS and investment firm has been wound up after misusing €56 million in clients’ money to cover up troubled property deals.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has claimed his shamed former Cabinet colleague Michael Lowry would quit politics in “an ideal world”.

SMOKERS and drinkers can bring in as much cigarettes and alcohol from other European countries as they want because of the legal loophole which compromises the Custom and Excise rules.

NAMA officials will have to inform the gardaí, Revenue Commissioners, Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Competition Authority if they find evidence of criminal activity in the course of their work – regardless of any existing confidentiality agreements.

THE Financial Regulator is to intensify its examination of directors’ loans in all of the country’s main banks following a meeting of its board over the weekend.

AN international anti-corruption report has highlighted the fact that Ireland places no obligation on public officials to report corruption and keeps no record of the number of officials disciplined for accepting corrupt payments.

It seems utterly outrageous that “some of the richest 100 may be officially non-resident for tax purposes and yet in reality live here”, according to an Internal Revenue document.

THE controversial decentralisation plan threatens the future well-being of Government in this country, one of Ireland’s leading academics claimed yesterday.

The chairman of the Revenue Commissioners has told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee that although €184m has been paid so far into the Revenue coffers in tax arrears after 5000 people responded to an offshore assets clampdown, he expects this figure to reach €1bn.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has given three outside experts nine weeks to identify cutbacks of some €1 billion next year in efforts to control spiralling public spending.

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has said he is happy with the fact that the Revenue Commissioners only collected one-quarter of the sum they were expecting because of the latest tax amnesty.