Tánaiste hits back over tax probe claims

The Tánaiste tonight angrily defended her record in office over Opposition claims that she ordered corporate tax fraud inquiries to be wound up before they were completed.

Labour leader Pat Rabbitte claimed Mary Harney told a senior civil servant to stop probing tax evasion in banks before she left the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in September.

The Dublin TD asked her why she wanted to terminate the probe “after building your reputation” on the 2002 Ansbacher Report which uncovered widespread tax evasion by Irish business people between the late 1970s and the late 1990s.

He asked: “Why would you want to terminate the inquiry as it relates to three of the companies where some of the most powerful in our society were engaged in tax evasion?”

This level of fraud made the conviction of former Government minister Ray Burke – who was jailed for six months last week for tax evasion – “look like a corner sweet shop”, he said.

“Why would you want to put off those guys being subjected to the full rigours of the law?”

Ms Harney replied that Mr Rabbitte was making “very serious allegations in relation to my integrity” and demanded that he withdraw them.

She said: “I actually don’t know what you’re suggesting. If you’re suggesting that I closed down an inquiry because it was revealing some information that I did not like…

“I have acted properly throughout my career in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I’m no more a saint than you.”

She denied that anybody had made representations to her and reiterated that she had asked for the inquiry to be brought to an end on “on a number of occasions”.

“I did feel that seven years on it was time to bring these investigations to a conclusion. I was under the impression they would be brought to a conclusion an awful lot earlier,” she said.

The Tánaiste added that she submitted the Ansbacher Report to the Revenue Commissioners, the DPP and other relevant agencies.

She said she had also asked for relevant material to be sent to the Flood and Moriarty Tribunals.