The steam went out of the Lowry affair yesterday, but payments by Ben Dunne to public figures are still a live political issue, writes Denis Coghlan, Chief Political Correspondent
By DENIS COGHLAN
MICHAEL Lowry made a sad figure when he sat down in the Dail yesterday. The former minister and Fine Gael high-flier had come down to earth with a crash and the rising dust still obscured his political future.
Surrounded by his Fine Gael colleagues, Mr Lowry's detailed explanation to the Dail of the events, leading up to his resignation as minister had the ring of truth about it. But the diamond-sharp reason for his resignation was also exposed: Mr Lowry's tax affairs were not, and had not been, in order.
As he simultaneously beat his breast and defended his integrity as a politician and as a minister, Mr Lowry apologised for misleading the Dail and the public over his tax obligations. On becoming minister, he told the Taoiseach he had availed of a tax amnesty and that his tax affairs were up to date and paid. That wasn't the case. Later, while a serving minister, he had engaged in negotiations with the new management of Dunnes Stores concerning his financial affairs.
He received no comfort from the Taoiseach. Mr Bruton observed `coldly that preliminary tax should have been paid and "serious matters" remained to be investigated by the Revenue Commissioners.
The mood in the Dail was funereal as Mr Lowry disclosed the labyrinthine nature of his business relationship with Ben Dunne and the irregular nature of the payments made. There was an aura of quiet horror that a colleague should find himself in such dismal circumstances. There was no obvious appetite on the Fianna Fail benches to inflict further punishment. "There but for the Grace of God..."
But Mary Harney was leaving her options open. The party leader was somewhat disingenuous when she maintained they still didn't know why Mr Lowry had resigned. Did she want it spelled out in blood?
Next week the scene will shift. And John Bruton is likely to swim into the political frame. The Taoiseach will come under attack for his "misjudgment" in appointing Mr Lowry to ministerial office.
But, as the Dail rose for the Christmas recess there was a sense of political repositioning taking place of a sliding back on ethical standards as the realisation hit that present and past tax difficulties had a capacity to blight political careers.
Bertie Ahern had upped the ante in the Dail last week when he spoke of the need to revive public confidence in the democratic system. It was "a grave public scandal", he said, that the Dail had not received a satisfactory explanation from Mr Lowry. As a result, the question arose of whether he was "a fit person to be a member of this House".
Michael McDowell took no prisoners either. The people of Ireland demanded "of this generation of politicians nothing less than the truth," he declared. And a sworn judicial inquiry was needed. The man, who had stridently opposed the Ethics in Government legislation and the disclosure of TDs' interests was in full flight. And, while the Progressive Democrats wished to poke into the specifics of Dunnes Stores funding, they wished to retain secrecy for all other business donations to political parties.
IT was dangerous territory, full" of swallow holes. If a TD or senator was to be booted out of politics because of major tax difficulties, where would it end? Would fines and penalties imposed by the Revenue disqualify? If they went down that road, there would be, a fair number of empty seats in Leinster House.
Tax avoidance, not to say evasion, is endemic in this State. And successive governments have declined to make any attempt to quantify it never mind to assess the extent of the black economy. In a booming economy, the mind boggles at the official statistic which states, - that only a few thousand self-employed persons earn incomes in excess of £30,000.
And Mr Lowry's fall from grace becomes commonplace in the context of the 500 companies and individuals who paid the Revenue Commissioners £10 million in tax settlements last year. Revenue audits conducted on a broader basis brought in £140 million. And nobody was sent to jail. Offenders paid up and promised to be good.
Last week the Taoiseach's response to Mr Lowry's obvious tax difficulties brought sharply different reactions from the "haves" and the "have nots" in society. An Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll found working-class PAYE employees to be most critical of Mr Bruton's handling of the issue, with 55 per cent dissatisfied and 28 per cent satisfied.
Middle and upper income voters were more understanding, with 46 per cent dissatisfied and 42 per cent satisfied. And farmers, who think tax is something paid by other people, approved of Mr Bruton's behaviour by a margin of 50 per cent to 32 per cent opposed.
In his personal statement to the Dail yesterday, Mr Lowry promised to stand for re-election. He said the people of North Tipperary would be the final arbiters. No doubt they will elect him in style. But the former minister will have to satisfy the Revenue Commissioners and a special Dail committee dealing with the Price Waterhouse report.