Revenue probes Garda whistleblower claims about pub-licensing abuses
Revenue inspectors are looking into claims by a Garda whistleblower about the systemic abuse of the pub-licensing laws in Munster.
His claims are being investigated by gardaí and the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc).
The claims, which appeared on a blog last week, are so detailed that Revenue inspectors believe there may be enough information to open an investigation.
They have yet to launch a full-scale probe.
As reported by the Irish Examiner, some publicans were allowed to abuse licensing laws by serving after hours and, in a number of instances, without any exemption for late opening hours.
The whistleblower also claims a number of pubs, and other outlets, were serving alcohol without a proper licence.
He also claims colleagues passed licensing inspections for pubs that didn’t even have a licence to sell alcohol.
And he claims that of a survey of pubs, restaurants, and hotels that were selling alcohol in an area where he was based, over 20% of them were trading without any licences. His allegations have appeared on a blog, but cannot be reprinted in full, for legal reasons.
But his allegations about the misuse of the Pulse system echo those first made by Garda whistleblower, Maurice McCabe.
The Munster garda’s claims date back to 2009 and they have already been the subject of an internal garda inquiry.
This paper understands the outcome of one inquiry was that some rules were not observed.
However, it concluded no senior or junior member was deemed to have acted illegally, nor in a manner that would merit disciplinary action.
A spokesperson for Revenue said where it is made aware of detailed allegations of tax evasion — regardless of where this information appears — it will act.
“It is important to note the tax obligations of publicans are no different from the tax obligations of those operating in any other sector of the economy and are subject to the same level of risk analysis and intervention scrutiny as any other commercial entity,” they said.
“Revenue welcomes reports by citizens, in relation to tax evasion. Where the information (received) is sufficiently detailed or specific, we will use it to investigate the business, or person, suspected of tax evasion, across all of their tax obligations, subject to our normal determination of tax at risk.
“However, for reasons of taxpayer confidentiality, we do not report back to the person or business who provided the information on the outcome of our investigation into their report.”
They said that identifying, targeting, and confronting non-compliance is a standard element of its compliance framework.
