Civil servant told Revenue of 27 new tax evasion cases

The whistleblower behind the explosive Ansbacher dossier informed the Revenue Commissioners of 27 new cases of alleged tax evasion, 10 of which yielded "substantial" settlements.

Revenue chairwoman Josephine Feehily yesterday revealed the extent of the cooperation with Department of Jobs whistleblower Gerard Ryan, saying his material had been “helpful”.

Mr Ryan submitted fresh claims to the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last month that prominent former politicians had used offshore accounts to evade tax, dating back to the 1970s.

Appearing before PAC yesterday, Ms Feehily ins-isted several times that all material from the civil servant made available to Revenue had been “fully investigated”.

However, she also said she had not seen a 30-page dossier of his claims submitted to PAC members.

Independent TD Shane Ross read some of Mr Ryan’s claims; including that the Government and Revenue had “failed” to conduct a full investigation into his findings on tax evasion in recent years.

“Little or no effective action is being taken by these State agencies on foot of those reports,” said Mr Ross.

Ms Feehily said she was surprised at the claim. She said she was not going to reject something she had not seen, adding: “The gentleman [Mr Ryan] has expressed a view, but a view is not a fact.”

She said there was nothing new in files he had passed to Revenue since 2011.

Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy told TDs that the average settlement in Ansbacher was €790,000 per case.

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald asked if Revenue had come across a “secret ledger” cited by the whistleblower, which he says he discovered existed in late 2003 or early 2004.

Ms Feehily said information passed on may have added to their knowledge, but there were no new names.

She said Revenue should interview the whistleblower if evidence arose that it had not previously received.

PAC chairman John McGuinness said transcripts of yesterday’s hearings would be sent to Mr Ryan, as well as gardaí, who are investigating some claims.

TDs’ row

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald was accused of using an Oireachtas committee for her own political ends following a spat over tax evasion claims between her and other TDs.

The Dublin TD this week used Dáil privilege to name former politicians who it is claimed evaded tax through offshore accounts.

Fine Gael TD John Deasy maintained she was using the powerful committee for her own “political ends”.

He said she ignored legal advice given to the PAC and had created an impression that the committee could do nothing with the allegations.

Labour’s Joe Costello also criticised her, saying what she had done was “wrong” and had created a bad impression of PAC.