The head of Revenue has said the tax body is currently running a number of audits on directors and executives in the banking sector. Josephine Feehily told the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee Revenue was keeping a 'close eye' on that sector.
Asked if an audit were being done in relation to Anglo Irish Bank, Ms Feehily said she could not comment on individual cases.
She also told the PAC Revenue has no desire to use its full weight against innocent victims of the recession.
Ms Feehily said Revenue was fully aware of the current economic conditions, but she added that businesses must engage early and openly with the tax authority. She also said that Revenue could not as banker to businesses in trouble.
Ms Feehily also said that a special investigation set up last year into offshore assets has so far yielded €19m from 98 cases. She was speaking before the Dáil's Public Accounts Committee.
She said that the departure of a number of senior audit staff over the last 18 months was having an impact on the numbers of audits Revenue was carrying out. But Ms Feehily said she was not worried yet about the fall-off in the numbers of audits being done, adding that there were plans to hire more staff.
She also said that 33 audits were carried out on barristers in 2008, resulting in a yield of €930,000.
