Conversations between Department of Finance officials and the Revenue Commissioners about the introduction of DIRT and inspecting non-resident accounts would have been based on sensitivities about the wider economic and financial view, the Dail committee heard yesterday.
It was told that Department of Finance principal officer, Mr Pat Nevin, had stated in evidence to the Comptroller and Auditor General that "Rome can very easily be burned down in a day".
"I would be trying to convey to them [the Revenue] the utter sensitivity from the wider economic and financial point of view of non-resident balances in the State," Mr Nevin had said. Mr Nevin, whose evidence was read out by a C&AG official, said he was not "coming from the point of view of giving formal directions to the Revenue", but he would have told it was a matter of concern.
He would have asked Revenue to "let us know if you are thinking in terms of doing anything and then we will see, if necessary, what might have to be done".
The secretary of the Department of Finance, Mr Paddy Mullarkey, said he was surprised the evidence had not been included in the auditor general's report.
Mr John Buckley, from the C&AG office, said the Department's "picture" had been given on Tuesday in regard to its relationship with the Revenue and he was quoting the evidence to give "a complete picture".