Cowen threatens to sue if 'jibes' repeated outside Dail

Minister for Finance Brian Cowen threatened to sue Labour spokeswoman Joan Burton if she repeated allegations against him outside of the Dáil.

Deputies have full privilege when they speak in the House.

Mr Cowen also warned Green Party spokesman Dan Boyle that he would have "a chat" with him if he repeated allegations outside the House.

During heated exchanges, Mr Cowen insisted that non-residence for tax purposes did not mean people were exempt from paying tax in Ireland. It meant they only paid tax on their Irish-sourced income.

"Non-residency enables them not to be subject to tax on worldwide income." Ms Burton remarked: "Almost none of them has Irish-sourced income, and the Minister knows that. He is protecting his rich friends again."

Mr Cowen said every time he came into the House, there was a theme from the Labour Party spokeswoman that he was knowledgeable about the income tax affairs of individuals other than himself. He added that Ms Burton should withdraw the charges.

Ms Burton said: "The eminent Minister is at every race meeting in this country where people who are non-resident for tax purposes are walking around." Mr Cowen said the non-residency rules applying in the Republic were agreed under a Fianna Fáil-Labour government in 1994.

Amid further exchanges, Mr Cowen said: "My integrity is not going to be challenged under privilege. If the deputy wants to challenge it outside the House, she should do so. I would gladly sue her."

Mr Boyle said: "Regarding the residency rules, the Minister is being economical with the truth. Not only is he exempting a wide swathe of tax relief schemes that are not examined by the current review, he is failing to treat the resident reviews as the obvious tax expenditure that it is."

Mr Cowen said: "The deputy can throw his jibes ... [ but] I would advise the deputy to keep using the privilege of the House when he does so, because if he ever does it outside the House, I will have a chat with him."