The chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, Mr Dermot Quigley, has said new powers in the Finance Bill would help Revenue deal effectively with serious cases of tax evasion.

However, he said the powers were not there "to mount a blitz on ordinary tax payers". He said the objective was not "to interfere with ordinary taxpayers with a few bob in the bank."

He said the powers would help the Revenue repair a "serious dent in public confidence" about tax administration in the State. He was speaking on the RTE Radio One yesterday.

He said "very serious tax evasion has become obvious" in the last 18 months and the measures would give Revenue a "new weapon".

Mr Quigley strongly emphasised that the powers would have no impact on compliant taxpayers and would "be used with all appropriate controls and safeguards".

"We will have greater scope under the new laws to get access to bank accounts. We would have to have a lead or some information, which comes to us from many sources, that there is an undisclosed bank account relevant to an investigation of serious tax evasion," he said.

"Three people out of our entire organisation, the three revenue commissioners, out of a staff of 6,000, are the only ones who would have the right to sign an order of this kind," he pointed out.

When asked would the new powers help with "unfinished business" the Revenue was investigating, Mr Quigley declined to refer to specific cases. He said he could not talk about the AIB DIRT issue because it was being investigated by the Comptroller and Auditor General.