This article is from page 6 of the 2014-12-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
THE ACCOUNT in the name of S Barrett, listed in a whistle blower’s dossier on alleged tax evading accounts held by politicians, did not belong to the late Clare TD and minister, Sylvie Barrett, according to his family.
Gerard Ryan, a civil servant in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation who was charged with investigating such accounts, recently availed of the whistleblower legislation to send a dossier containing allegations about tax evasion by former politicians to the Public Accounts Committee.
These names were read into the Dáil record last Wednesday by Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, although no evidence has emerged in investigations to sustain the allegations.
The politicians named have denied any involvement in tax evasion.
While the other politicians were named in full, the last name was read into the record of the Dáil as S Barrett. Ceann Comhairle Sean Barrett denied immediately that the account was his.
Meanwhile the family of the late Sylvester Barrett stated;
“Our late father did not have any bank account with wither Guinness Mahon or Ansbacher therefore any account in the names of S Barrett had nothing to do with our late father.”
The late Deputy Barrett was a popular Fianna Fáil TD who was f rst elected to the Dáil during the 1969 by-election.
He served his constituency as a TD and Minister until his retirement in 1984. He passed away in 2002.
Having lived most of his life in Clarecastle, he had studied engineering as a young man and served as an army cadet.
Mr Barrett, widely known as ‘Sylvie’ was appointed Minister for the Environment in 1977 by then Taoiseach Jack Lynch, and also served as a member of the European Parliament. He famously voted against then leader of Fianna Fáil Charles Haughey in a leadership heave, becoming a member of the renowned ‘Club of 22’.
His father Frank, a member of Clare County Council, was a member of Sinn Fein prior to joining Fianna Fáil.
Last week the deputy leader of Sinn Fein was criticised for using Dáil privilege for listing some of the names allegedly contained in the dossier submitted to the PAC.