Revenue raid was 'an outrageous invasion of privacy', Lowry claims

Former Government minister Michael Lowry has accused tax collectors of being heavy-handed and intimidating during a raid on his home.

The Independent TD, and one-time senior Fine Gael figure, said 15 officials were involved in an intimate trawl through his imposing country house in Holycross, Co Tipperary, on Tuesday.

“I was appalled by it,” he said.

“It was an outrageous invasion of my privacy and my family home.

“It was a massive intrusion into my family home and private area.”

Mr Lowry said he was given no advance warning of the search by Revenue investigators and was baffled as to why it was carried out.

Despite a “methodical” operation lasting up to four hours and combing through drawers, cabinets, presses and bedroom wardrobes, Mr Lowry insisted officials took away nothing of any significance.

“It was a fruitless exercise,” he told local radio station Tipp FM.

“What I can say clearly is that there was nothing of any significance taken from the house, or indeed from my office.

“What concerns me, is that there was no necessity for this.”

Mr Lowry insisted he had no outstanding debts to the Revenue commissioners.

“Anybody who knows me, knows I pay my bills,” he said.

“I run my business properly and on a personal level I always pay what is owed and what is due, and I do it in a timely fashion.”

The former Fine Gael minister stood down from Cabinet in 1996 over revelations about his business dealings.

The following year he made a €1.4m tax settlement, following details about secret payments to him and his refrigeration business from ex-supermarket tycoon Ben Dunne.

Mr Lowry said his solicitor has sent Revenue a very strong letter about the raid, which he claimed was designed to pressurise and intimidate him.

It is the first known search by tax collectors on the home of a sitting TD.

Mr Lowry, whose large home is protected by electronic gates, said his staff found the swoop both imposing and intimidating and that he was left upset by the incident.

Furthermore, he accused Revenue of leaking details of the raid to the media.