Inspector ‘acted fairly’ over Dunnes’ tax bill

SENIOR tax inspector Seán Ó Catháin yesterday denied Revenue officials had ever behaved improperly in relation to the tax affairs of Dunnes Stores and insisted they had always “acted reasonably”.

Mr Ó Catháin was speaking in the context of a hearing into how the tax bill for Dunnes Stores was reduced from £38.8m to £16m in 1987 following a meeting between the chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, Seamus Paircéir, and the supermarket boss, Ben Dunne.

That meeting was arranged at the behest of former Taoiseach Charles J Haughey. The inquiry is trying to establish if there is any link between Mr Haughey’s role in this event and the fact that he received around £1.9m from the Dunnes Stores group in the period 1987-1993.