`Ideal' man for inquiry transferred

A senior inspector in the Revenue Commissioners, Mr D.A. Mac Carthaigh, was transferred from working on the problem of bogus non-resident accounts in financial institutions, to working on the drinks industry, the Dail Committee on Public Accounts heard yesterday.

He was transferred while Revenue officials were considering an internal report which recommended action to secure compliance from the institutions in an effort to weed out the bogus accounts. Mr Mac Carthaigh was one of a small number of people with that expertise.

Mr Pat Rabitte TD, cross-examining the author of the internal report, Mr Sean Moriarty, said Mr Moriarty had produced a report detailing "six or seven areas" for investigative action.

"You had produced a seminal report which required somebody of the knowledge and experience of Mr Mac Carthaigh to investigate further". As a senior inspector with a detailed knowledge of the problem, Mr Mac Carthaigh would have been the ideal person to proceed with that investigation, said Mr Rabitte. He said, he could not understand why Mr Mac Carthaigh had been transferred to the drinks industry. Mr Moriarty said, to the best of his recollection, a man of Mr Mac Carthaigh's seniority was required in the drinks industry where there was a huge staffing need and a small number of capable people. Questions followed on why Mr Moriarty's report was not acted upon by the Revenue Commissioners.