The Revenue Commissioners have denied they were responsible for leaking confidential details of the tax affairs of former minister Michael Lowry to the media.
In a statement released today the Revenue said: "We wish to refute in the strongest possible terms the suggestion, from any quarter, that information regarding a specific case, currently the subject of comment in the media, came from Revenue."
Revenue Commissioners statement
"It always has been, and remains, Revenue policy not to discuss the tax affairs of any individual or any company with any third party," the statement concluded.
Yesterday the Tipperary North Independent TD accused the Revenue of leaking information about his tax affairs to the press in what he called "a breathtaking abuse of power by the authorities".
"It is absolutely stunning that confidential and sensitive tax information has been leaked to RTE. It is surely outrageous that a taxpayer should learn of such information from a journalist," he said.
"This action is in breach of the Revenue's own voluntary disclosure code," Mr Lowry added. Mr Lowry served as Transport, Energy and Communications Minister from 1994 until he had to resign over the revelations in November, 1996.
The 1997 McCracken tribunal made it clear that Mr Lowry had not paid taxes that were due on payments received from Ben Dunne.
It also emerged that Mr Lowry had availed of the tax amnesty in the mid-1990s, which raised questions over whether he had made a full disclosure at that time.