By year-end, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) wants to see sweeping changes at the Revenue Commissioners, tighter control of State companies and the collection of millions of pounds in back-taxes and penalties from the banking sector.
Mr Mitchell says these achievements will go some way towards convincing the public that political inquiries are a more cost-effective and efficient way to unearth wrongdoing than tribunals.
"I am very critical of the length of time it has taken tribunals to conduct their business. While a lot of good information has been coming out recently - and I don't want to undermine the tribunals - we may not get a report from them for two to three years yet. They are far too long and too costly."
The DIRT inquiry pioneered a new forum for State investigations and its success was widely acknowledged. Revelations that the former PAC deputy chairman, Mr Denis Foley, one of the six-member team which conducted the inquiry, was himself the holder of a secret account in the unauthorised Ansbacher deposits did, however, undermine some of its credibility with the public.
Mr Mitchell said he was "disgusted" by the Foley affair. "We were extremely disappointed. No chairman has ever taken the steps that I did to ensure there was no possible conflict of interest. It goes to show you are always at the mercy of people giving full, complete and accurate information" he said.
The PAC is determined to continue its work, with its primary focus now on ensuring the implementation of its recommendations. "We need to restore public confidence and the first step is to let them see that things are happening. This has always been the great weakness of tribunals in the past." Mr Mitchell says he hopes lessons have been learned. The inquiry was sparked by revelations that AIB could have had a potential DIRT liability of up to £100 million because of the widescale abuse of non-resident accounts. The PAC concluded that non-resident accounts were an industry-wide phenomenon in the 1980s and 1990s, with inadequate powers at the Revenue Commissioners and a failure to apply outstanding tax liabilities supporting its continuance. The failure of auditors, the Central Bank and the Government to stamp out widescale tax evasion was also highlighted.
AIB insists it had agreed an amnesty with the Revenue in respect of its tax liabilities in 1991, but this assertion has been rejected by the PAC and the Revenue. AIB says the most it owes is £35 million.
This figure does not include interest and penalty payments, and the final tax demand from the Revenue could be substantially greater.
The State-owned ACC Bank is also facing a hefty tax bill, with estimates of its liabilities up to £17.5 million. "I am not giving up on getting a contribution from the financial sector as a gesture of reparation. The PAC has achieved a certain amount, but not enough to mollify a justifiably cynical public," Mr Mitchell said.
