A former chief inspector of taxes described to the DIRT inquiry yesterday how he was approached by a politician and asked "to go easy" on a businessman whose tax affairs were being examined.
Mr Seamus O'Connell made the submission when the committee chairman asked if any of the staff or former staff of the Revenue Commissioners present had ever been subject to political pressure.
Mr O'Connell declined to name the politician or say what "rank" he was, but said it was a direct and inappropriate approach made 12 or 14 years ago, before he retired in 1989.
He did not remember the name of the client whose tax affairs were being investigated.
"The client wanted to make a settlement without disclosing his wealth. I said, `no way, he has to make a full disclosure of his wealth'."
He had not been handling the case personally. It was an investigation branch case, but his understanding from the approach was that the law should not be fully enforced.
"The suggestion was `don't push him too hard', and this sort of thing," he said.
Mr O'Connell added that the individual went to Britain but left a business behind him. After the Revenue Commissioners began moves to bankrupt the business, the person returned and made a settlement.
The chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, Mr Dermot Quigley, said he was not aware of any influence at the political level or otherwise which "interfered with the independence of the Revenue".
Mr Jim Mitchell, chairman of the inquiry, had asked him if the Revenue's independence was "jealously guarded against improper influences, whether from politicians or otherwise".