Successive ministers ‘failed to act on tax evasion’

A string of successive ministers in one of the most influential departments in government failed to adequately act on information concerning tax evasion by well-known public figures, according to potentially "explosive" claims made by a whistleblower.

The civil servant has told members of the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that he compiled a 763-page dossier, described as the “huge effort report” which included eight volumes of supporting documentation.

It allegedly contains details about off-shore tax evasion by senior figures going back three decades, from high-profile politicians to a former, now deceased judge.