McCreevy denies 'Hoover-like' secrecy over tax breaks

The Minister for Finance was accused of presiding over a regime of "J Edgar Hoover-like" secrecy during a Dáil committee debate on tax breaks for special interests yesterday.

Labour Finance spokeswoman Ms Joan Burton said the Minister's handling of the tax relief system was so secretive and deferential towards big business that it smacked of US-style right wing Republicanism.

While charities such as St Vincent de Paul battered vainly at Government doors, corporate heavyweights such as the Irish Hotels Federation could apparently secure extra exemptions by dispatching a perfunctory one-page letter to Mr McCreevy's office, said Ms Burton.

She tabled an amendment to the Finance Bill which would require the Government to publish details of reliefs granted for the past five years, but this was voted down.

Her attack was shrugged off by the Minister, who said tax reliefs played an important role in nurturing entrepreneurship.

However, Mr McCreevy acknowledged that misgivings existed about the transparency of certain schemes.

In response to these qualms, individuals and companies claiming exemptions under the stallion, greyhound and forestry relief schemes would from this year have to submit details with their tax returns, said the Minister. Mr McCreevy has, over the past couple of years, been forced to defend generous exemptions for horse breeders.

The chagrin of Opposition parties was ironic in view of the fact that when in Government many of them had introduced a range of tax breaks themselves, the Minister added.

Claims that the Cabinet had been happy to overlook the issue of the cost of tax reliefs until the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) highlighted the lack of information in this area in his annual report were inaccurate, said the Minister.

The C&AG was in fact following up on discourse between the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners, the Minister explained.