Group `considered using tax amnesty'

The Murphy Group of companies considered the tax amnesty to bring its financial affairs to order in 1988, Mr James Gogarty said.

Referring to the re-establishment of the Murphy family control of the company following internal disputes, Mr Gogarty said he and the company's financial controller had meetings "to discuss what was the proper thing to do".

"John Lane was financial controller and I was chairman and we put a proposal to them [the Murphy family] . . . that they do two things, now that they had got rid of the old management. That they would bring in a top-class firm of accountants to assess the financial structure of the companies in the aftermath of what happened; and we also suggested that the companies take advantage of the amnesty which was ending in October 1988."

Mr Gogarty said he considered the tax amnesty "because here was a situation where a new management was taking over, recovering from an old management where we admitted that there were failings and that that situation should be regularised".

But the suggestion was not approved by other company directors, including Mr Joe Murphy snr, Mr Gogarty said.

"Mr [Roger] Copsey and Mr Murphy, on the advice of Mr Copsey, I think, said that wasn't a priority, an immediate priority. "The immediate priority was to get new life back into the companies and get back on to an even keel," Mr Gogarty said he was told.

"What upset me then was that in effect they got John Lane to resign. I was annoyed over that, but I was locked into a difficult situation.

"Again I was fighting for my pension and all those kinds of things and I was forced to take a stand and not seriously object to John Lane resigning, which I felt was wrong," he said.