Labour and FG deputies query TD's Dáil tenure

FINE GAEL and Labour deputies have called on Independent TD Mick Wallace to clarify his position following his revelation that he made a €2.1 million settlement with the Revenue Commission for under-declaration of VAT.

However, colleagues of Mr Wallace in the Dáil technical group have said there are no issues in relation to his continuing membership of the group. His tenure in the Dáil was an issue for his constituents in Co Wexford, a number of members of the group said yesterday.

Fine Gael parliamentary party chairman Charlie Flanagan said the fact Mr Wallace was unlikely to ever pay the bill “raises serious questions about Deputy Wallace’s suitability to serve as an Oireachtas member”.

“It sets an alarming precedent when a member of the House admits to having knowingly filed an inaccurate VAT return,” Mr Flanagan said. “The idea that his company – of which he is the only director – is insolvent, but that he himself remains tax compliant, is playing ducks and drakes with the conventions of Leinster House.”

Labour Party TD for Dublin South Central Eric Byrne said the Dáil technical group, of which Mr Wallace is a member, had questions to answer.

“I always found it curious that the likes of Joan Collins, Clare Daly, Joe Higgins and Richard Boyd Barrett thought nothing of cosying up to a property developer in the Dáil but the fact that Deputy Wallace is now a self-confessed tax cheat must give them real cause to shift uncomfortably in their seats,” he said.

He said members of the group had taken “every opportunity” in the Dáil to rail against the idea that taxpayers should be forced to pay the gambling debts of bankers and developers. “It is hard to take their criticism seriously when some of those very debts emanate from one of their own members,” Mr Byrne said.

Speaking in the Dáil, another Labour backbencher, Eamon Maloney, called Mr Wallace a tax evader and urged him to provide an explanation to the tax-compliant citizens of the State.

Members of the technical group stressed it was a purely technical arrangement and was not, therefore, subject to the same rules as political parties. There were, therefore, no implications for his membership of the group.

Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins said Mr Wallace should meet any outstanding liabilities from any assets available, including his personal assets. But he said it was “ludicrous” that the technical group should take any action because it was purely a technical arrangement for TDs who were not members of any recognised group.

“There are absolutely no political implications for the technical group,” he said, adding that Mr Wallace’s membership of the Dáil was a matter for his constituents in Co Wexford.

Kildare North TD Catherine Murphy said what Mr Wallace had done was wrong but praised him for being “forthright” and “coming out with his hands up”.

Another group member, Maureen O’Sullivan, said she didn’t agree with what Mr Wallace had done but wished to acknowledge the way he was dealing with the issue. Kerry TD Tom Fleming said it was a matter for Mr Wallace and Revenue to deal with.

Among those who commented yesterday on Mr Wallace’s tax issues was comedian Des Bishop. He tweeted: “I must admit that years ago I thought Mick Wallace was a developer with civic pride but he has proven he is no different to the others.”