A group of individuals from the Channel island of Sark are listed as directors of thousands of Irish non-resident companies, writes Siobhan Creaton.In some cases, individuals are listed in the Companies Office as being directors of up to 1,000 of the companies which are allowed to operate from Ireland without paying tax.

Company office records also show that many of the 40,000 such companies registered in Ireland are set up specifically to allow investors to execute a single deal while others are operated by large international companies who can legitimately use them to avoid paying tax.

See Story of the Week, page 7