Lawmakers cannot have tax dodger in their midst

Independent TD Mick Wallace has publicly admitted that he deliberately falsified VAT returns for his construction business. In doing so, he has acknowledged breaking the law. As a legislator in Dail Eireann, this has particularly grave consequences for a TD. Lawbreaking is incompatible with lawmaking and Mr Wallace is under growing pressure to resign his seat as a TD for Wexford. Soon that pressure is likely to become irresistible. After coming to a €2.1 million settlement with the Revenue Commissioners, the property developer-turned-politician has maintained that he is not personally liable to make the payment as it is a company debt, and he has admitted the bill may never be settled as his construction firm - MJ Wallace Ltd - is now insolvent. Although he has admitted he was wrong to knowingly under-declare VAT in making his tax return, he maintained he made his decision to save jobs. He now faces further scrutiny relating to his finances after being forced out of the Independent TDs' Technical Group in the Dail over his tax affairs and is now something of an isolated figure in the Dáil. A motion of censure looks like it is on the cards and he could yet face an investigation by an Oireachtas committee. His fellow Independent TDs moved against him early this week, culminating in his forced resignation from the Technical Group on Monday. However, the reaction of some members of the Technical Group to Deputy Wallace's disclosures about the falsification of VAT returns is somewhat duplicitous, given that these TDs have been among the most vocal in calling for Irish politics to be cleaned up and for the highest standards of probity to apply to members of the Oireachtas. This controversy appears to have split the group, with a number of high-profile left-wing TDs such as Richard Boyd Barrett, Joe Higgins and Clare Daly having refused to call on Deputy Wallace to resign, while others within the Technical Group have. Indeed, the controversy has put this loose alliance of 15 TDs in the spotlight as their response to the controversy has been perceived as lacklustre, to say the least. Minister for Justice Alan Shatter went as far as to say that the events of the past few days had totally undermined the credibility of members of the Technical Group. He said they needed "to decide whether they are self-serving street anarchists, addicted to opportunistic populist protest and obsessed by out-of-date left-wing or right-wing ideology or real democrats". Given the scandals that have been uncovered in this country involving politicians over the past couple of decades, the Irish people now have a right to expect high standards from those they elect. Either in business or politics, there should be zero tolerance of any type of law-breaking. Many are also wondering how there can be such blatant differences in the treatment of tax offenders by the Revenue Commissioners and how fruit and veg importer Paul Begley from Dublin could be jailed for six years earlier this year for describing garlic as apples in customs declarations, and why others have been jailed by the courts for filing incorrect tax returns. Indeed, in a case at Trim Circuit Court last month, a 67 year-old County Meath businessman in the plant and construction business, who was accused of failing to make VAT and income tax returns, was jailed for two-and-a-half years. His excuse was that, as profit margins were so tight, he could not afford to make the returns. In light of such severe sanctions, questions are being asked about why other self-declared tax cheats should be treated differently. In the UK, an admission such as Mick Wallace's would lead to his resignation from parliament. Irish politicians do not do resignations, as we all know, but there is a growing belief that Deputy Wallace's position is now incompatible with his continued membership of Dail Eireann.