The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, other former ministers for finance, senior civil servants and bankers are among those being called before the Dail Select Committee of Public Accounts (PAC) DIRT inquiry.
They will be questioned on their knowledge and actions in relation to bogus non-resident accounts in hearings which will commence on Tuesday. In a widening of the inquiry, the accountants that audited a number of the financial institutions are also to be questioned on whether they knew about the bogus accounts.
The PAC DIRT inquiry, which is chaired by Mr Jim Mitchell TD, has called 112 witnesses to the hearings, including former ministers for finance who held office since 1986.
The ministers are: Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton; former EU Commissioner, Mr Ray MacSharry; former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds; Mr Ahern; and Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn. Contrary to indications from department sources earlier this week, the current Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, is not being called, as he came into office just shortly before the committee started to examine the issue and his evidence is not considered pertinent at this stage.
Evidence in relation to what the politicians knew about widescale tax evasion through bogus non-resident accounts during their terms in office and what action they took as a result will be heard towards the end of the planned five weeks of public hearings. It is open to the committee either to add to or subtract from the list of witnesses.
The inquiry, which is the first to use new legislative powers to compel witness to appear before it, will open on Tuesday with the Secretary to the Government, Mr Frank Murray, as the first witness. He will vouch for the authenticity of Government documents being examined and may also be questioned on other aspects of Government procedure.
Central Bank governor, Mr Maurice O'Connell, and former governor, Mr Maurice Doyle, will also be early witnesses to take the stand, together with present and former senior civil servants from the Department of Finance. Mr O'Connell has been called before the inquiry to answer questions in relation to his knowledge of the policy approach towards bogus non-resident accounts both as governor and during his tenure as second secretary at the Department of Finance.
Officials from the Revenue Commissioners will also give evidence to the inquiry on their DIRT collection policy. They include chairman, Mr Dermot Quigley, and his predecessor, Mr Cathal MacDomhnaill, as well as senior inspectors of taxes who were involved in discussions with AIB in relation to its DIRT liability between 1986 and 1990. A key issue for the committee is to examine the fundamental disagreement between AIB and the Revenue on whether an agreement was reached to "forgive" the bank DIRT liabilities pre-1991.
The Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG), Mr John Purcell, who produced a report for the PAC showing systematic abuse of non-resident accounts in the State will refer to its contents at the hearings.
The committee has called senior executives from AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank, National Irish Bank, Irish Life & Permanent and ACC Bank, who will all be asked how they undertook their role as collectors of DIRT. AIB's former head of internal auditing, Mr Anthony Spollen, the leaking of whose report to the media sparked the current controversy, is among the witnesses. His 1991 internal audit report referred to a potential DIRT liability for AIB of £100 million (€126.97 million) in the years from 1986, although AIB has hotly contested this figure.
Among the other senior figures from the financial sector who are to give evidence are former Irish Permanent chief executive, Dr Edmund Farrell; former ACC chairwoman, Ms Gary Joyce; former NIB chief executive, Mr Jim Lacey; former Bank of Ireland chief executive, Mr Mark Hely-Hutchinson; and former AIB chairman, Mr Peter Sutherland.
In an area not examined by the C&AG report, managing partners from the main accounting firms which acted as auditors to the banks which held bogus non-resident accounts are also among the witnesses being called. It is understood that they will be questioned on whether they had any concerns about the DIRT policies of the institutions. Mr Mitchell expects the hearings to take five weeks and to form the basis for a new system under which the Dail can investigate issues such as widescale fraud. The hearings are being conducted by a six-member sub-committee of the PAC.
The PAC cannot impose penalties or raise tax assessments, but can make policy recommendations in its report to the Oireachtas.
