Watchdog considers probe into Ahern's tax affairs

An official public standards watchdog is today considering whether to investigate Bertie Ahern’s tax affairs after Fine Gael lodged a formal complaint against the Taoiseach.

Senator Eugene Regan, the opposition party’s justice spokesman in the Seanad, said the move was rubber stamped by Fine Gael’s front bench earlier this week.

The party has urged the Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) to investigate whether Mr Ahern was tax compliant after the General Election in 2002.

Ethics legislation compels all Oireachtas members to lodge tax-clearance certificates with the standards watchdog within nine months of the poll.

Otherwise an elected member can submit a statement of application acknowledging outstanding tax issues. Mr Regan said there were serious issues to be addressed regarding the Fianna Fáil leader’s compliance with the laws after disclosures about alleged financial “dig-outs” in the early 1990s.

“Bertie Ahern has confirmed that he is unable to furnish a tax clearance certificate to meet his legal requirements under the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 as a member of the 30th Dail,” said Mr Regan.

“As with every other TD he had to make a declaration of tax compliance and provide a tax clearance certificate.

“If he cannot provide such a certificate today because of issues dating back to the [19]90s how could he properly do so in 2002?”

SIPO must now decide whether an investigation is warranted.

The watchdog – which has the power to refer complaints to the Director of Public Prosecutions – last year dismissed two complaints against the Taoiseach about loans or gifts in the early 1990s.

Michael Collins, the former Fianna Fáil TD for West Limerick, was the first TD to be prosecuted under the ethics legislation last September.

He was given a 12-month suspended jail sentence and a fine of €25,000 after being found to have obtained a tax clearance certificate by false pretences in May 2002.