The Government will face strong opposition demands today for assurances that prosecutions will follow arising from the publication of the Ansbacher report.
During a special recall of the Dáil to discuss the report, opposition parties will also call for an end to self-regulation of professional bodies, including accountants and solicitors.
"A harder line must be taken on the regulation of certain professional organisations. Self-regulation has clearly not worked. We have seen this through the Beef tribunal and the DIRT inquiry," the Fine Gael spokesman on enterprise, trade and employment, Mr Phil Hogan, said last night.
"It is time now for a major change and it is up to the Government to put in place legislation to allow for this," he added.
The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, will lead off today's one-day debate, for which TDs will return from their summer holidays. Fine Gael, Labour, the Greens and Sinn Féin will follow her before there is an hour-long question-and-answer session.
The Ansbacher report was discussed by the Government at yesterday's weekly Cabinet meeting but no new initiatives are expected to be unveiled at today's Dáil session.
It is understood that rather than go into the detail of what is contained in the 10,000-page report, Ms Harney will outline the progress which has been made in recent years and legislation which has been enacted to prevent a repeat of Ansbacher.
She will list various regulatory reforms which have been completed or are in train.
The Labour Party spokesman on enterprise, trade and employment, Mr Tommy Broughan, will demand today that the Whistleblowers Bill, which only got as far as the Second Stage of the Dáil in 1999, be enacted.
He will say it is not enough any more for the Revenue Commissioners to make sure that people are settling their tax affairs.
"We need to have a change from the situation where settlement was the main objective to a situation where prosecution should be the norm."
According to Mr Hogan, some people still think of tax evasion as a "victimless" crime.
"But the young and the vulnerable people of the 1970s and 1980s who paid high taxes are angry at what has emerged."
He said the taxpayer should not have to pick up the tab for Ansbacher.
"We do not accept that the decent, hard working people of Ireland should foot this bill."
It was an application by Ms Harney to the High Court in 1999 which led to the initiation of the report which was finally published on Saturday. It included names of many individuals and companies who held Ansbacher accounts.
The Tánaiste has described the inspectors' report as "a damning insight into a world of conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion over a number of years".
The Department of Justice, which has footed the €3.2 million bill for the inspectors' inquiry, is expected to go to court soon to recoup the money from Ansbacher Cayman.