Sometimes it’s just some small unexpected comment or story that tells us what kind of a country we live in.
An angry caller to last Friday’s Liveline was wondering why people like Bertie Ahern never seem to come under the same scrutiny as ‘ordinary’ citizens.
“One time I had a small business and I had a tax audit. I said to the tax inspectors, why are you hassling the small businesses’? They told me straight out:
‘we’re not allowed go after the big guys.’
They said it reflects badly on Irish business in general, that they have too many smart accountants and smart solicitors and they have friends in high places.
You can ask anyone who has ever worked in Revenue and they will back me up on that. That’s how it is, there’s an untouchable golden circle.”
But the Revenue is currently pursuing Bertie Ahern after he gave evidence to the Mahon tribunal. Likewise, it was the Criminal Assets Bureau that went after Ray Burke.
Similarly, the Revenue also received a settlement from former high-profile barrister now Circuit Court judge, Mr Alan Mahon, in relation to under-disclosure of income in his tax affairs when a successful lawyer.
Revenue affairs are private and not disclosed in public for privacy reasons. For all any of us know, the Revenue could be pursuing the most senior politicans, lawyers and judiciary at this very moment.