A total of 32 people and companies paid £1.6 million in tax settlements to the State for the July-September period, the Revenue Commissioners said last night. The biggest individual settlement was by Mr James A. Pierce, a company director in Howth, Dublin, who paid £265,000.
Mr Pierce, whose address is given as Ceanchor Road, is listed with the Companies Office as a director of seven different firms, including Ordos Investments Ltd, Jakobi Properties Ltd, Grifwell Developments Ltd, Rockhampton Securities Ltd, Ives Management Company Ltd, Malincross Ltd and PIE group Ltd.
Five other individuals paid more than £100,000 in tax. They include Mr Rory O'Brien, a farmer and company director in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, who paid £125,000; Mr Seamus Gallagher, running a construction company in Ardara, Co Donegal, who paid £110,572; Jendali Ltd, listed as a fishing company based on Clanwilliam Terrace in Dublin, which paid £109,764; and J.R. Byrne and Sons, a tobacco and confectionery wholesaler in Dublin, which paid £113,322.
Publicans were high on the list of defaulters who settled with the Revenue Commissioners; there were eight in total. Among those listed was Petersville Ltd, trading as The Hairy Lemon pub on Dublin's Stephen Street, which paid £38,097; and Malindale Ltd, trading as John Doyles on the Phibsboro Road, Dublin, which paid £35,000.
Companies in the construction industry also feature prominently, including house-builders in Kildare and Dublin.
The Revenue Commissioners also appear to have targeted the restaurant business, with three establishments settling. These included Iridon Ltd, trading as the Eastern Tandoori on Dublin's South William Street, and a takeaway on Bridge Street, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, owned by Mr Martin Guihen.
Other settlements included a payment of £65,000 by H.A. O'Neill, a mechanical services contractor in Grand Canal Street, Dublin; a settlement of £59,000 by Milbett Investments Ltd, an investment company in Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork; and £58,000 paid by Mr Noel Irwin, trading as Modern Electric, Main Street, Midleton, Co Cork.
Details were also released of some 80 individuals and companies who were fined for failure to lodge tax returns.
These included Associated Consultants Compensation Ltd, insurance consultants, and DAD Property Letting Company, both fined £4,000 for failure to lodge corporation tax returns. The total amount of fines levied was £65,175.