The Socialist Party TD, Mr Joe Higgins, has called for the publication of a list of all tax amnesty beneficiaries and the amounts of money written off, as part of the work of a new tribunal.
Central to the McCracken tribunal's findings was that Mr Charles Haughey and Mr Michael Lowry had not paid substantial amounts of due tax, Mr Higgins said. A Fianna Fail government in 1987 and a Fianna Fail/ Labour government in 1993 had legitimised tax evasion on a massive scale through their tax amnesties.
To concentrate on the affairs of Mr Haughey and Mr Lowry in a new tribunal would, Mr Higgins said, "be to deliberately ignore the fact that political influence was being bought by business and wealthy individuals and was an integral part of the whole process, with many political parties implicated".
Business and super-rich individuals were able to write off as much as £1,000 million in taxes owed and this was "a fabulous windfall for those concerned".
Mr Higgins proposed that any new inquiry should examine whether any evaded taxes were hidden in the Ansbacher accounts and whether monies were legitimised from those accounts through the tax amnesties. Beneficial owners of the Ansbacher deposits should be obliged to reveal donations made by them to politicians or to political parties, Mr Higgins said.