Nobody comes out smelling of roses - Mitchell

Government departments, State agencies, banks, building societies and accountancy firms all failed to "fully discharge their statutory and fiduciary duties", the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee said as he launched the committee's hard-hitting 201-page report. Mr Jim Mitchell told reporters the agencies failed "under the noses of Ministers and the Oireachtas which failed to call them to account".

He believed there was no political interference from finance ministers with the Revenue, but it was "simply unbelievable" that ministers who had responsibility for the State-owned ACCBank did not know what was going on there. His personal opinion of the scandal was: "I don't believe we were very corrupt. I believe we were very lax. If there are loopholes people will exploit loopholes."

Flanked by the five other members of the sub-committee which investigated the Deposit Interest Retention Tax controversy, the chairman said nobody came out "smelling of roses" as he highlighted some of the report's 100 recommendations.

They include a call for the Government to change the law to compel the Revenue Commissioners to have a "total look back" at all 37 financial institutions for their DIRT liabilities since 1986, to include appropriate interest and penalties, and to make any necessary amendments to the statute of limitations.

This should be completed by next September and the public had a right to know the result and "not have confidential settlements in court".

The committee also recommends a one-off financial levy against the banks as "a generous and appropriate act of restitution" and calls for the money in all dormant accounts to be used for the benefit of the poor and disadvantaged.

It said, however, that the Government should decide the size of the levy and did not attempt either to assess how much was in the dormant accounts or the amount of DIRT tax that might become applicable.

In a stinging attack on the State agencies, the chairman said the Department of Finance, the Revenue Commissioners and the Central Bank all had serious shortcomings.

There was a "complete lack of rigorous analysis" about the theory that to enforce the law on bogus accounts might lead to a flight of capital out of the State.

He declined to comment on whether individuals should be "fired" but said "clearly the report has implications for individuals". The committee also found the evidence to be "clear" and "overwhelming" that there was no amnesty or deal between AIB and the Revenue Commissioners, one of the most important questions of the seven-week inquiry. Mr Mitchell said they were not "putting it up to the Government" to implement its recommendations but were "expecting decisions", and would adjourn the issue for six months to "assess what progress has been made".