Revenue inquiry into data abuse resulted in resignation or firing of 15 staff members

A total of 15 staff in the Revenue Commissioners have either been fired or resigned in recent years following investigations into allegations that they had improperly accessed official data.

Documents indicate that staff members will not receive any penalties or reductions to their pension entitlements.

The briefing material says that between 2006 and 2012, 10 Revenue staff resigned after the disciplinary proceedings. In five other cases, staff were dismissed or had their contracts terminated.

According to internal documents, the Director of Public Prosecutions brought charges in three cases.

In relation to these, the documents state that, in November 2008, one former staff member pleaded guilty to 24 counts of deception and 24 counts of dishonesty using her computer while employed by the Revenue Commissioners.

The former official received a two-year suspended sentence and, according to the documents, repaid €108,000 to the Revenue.

In March 2009, one former staff member pleaded guilty to two counts under the Prevention of Corruption Act and received a two-year suspended sentence and a fine of €10,000. In June 2012, another received fines of €1,500.

The documents state staff are obliged to follow the rules on data security and confidentiality. “Breaches of Revenue’s policy in relation to data access and transaction processing have been and will be treated as serious misconduct and addressed under the provisions of the Civil Service disciplinary code; staff found to have breached Revenue’s policy are subject to disciplinary sanction, up to and including dismissal.”

The records show that no termination payment was made to the staff concerned.

However, one document states that “in accordance with the rules of the Civil Service superannuation scheme, penalties were not applied to any pension entitlements in cases where officers were dismissed or had their contracts terminated”.