Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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50. To ask the Minister for Finance the status of his Department's work with the Revenue Commissioners in tackling the tax evasion uncovered in the Panama papers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33936/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am advised by Revenue that they have  been to the forefront in acting against the use of offshore accounts, trusts and structures to evade tax liabilities, and that their approach has set the model for much of the work undertaken by other tax administrations in this area. Revenue's work in relation to offshore accounts and other financial product investigations has to date resulted in the recovery of €2.8 billion in tax, interest and penalties.

In line with their active approach to identifying and confronting those who try to escape their tax responsibilities, Revenue  has advised me also they are examining the information that has become available through the "Panama Papers" revelations, and, in addition, that they have requested access to any elements of that documentation that could be of relevance to their work against tax evasion and avoidance. They are committed to making the fullest possible use of any available information in pursuing cases where it appears that tax liabilities have not been addressed.

Revenue continues to engage fully with the OECD Joint International Taskforce on Shared Intelligence and Collaboration (JITSIC) Network to agree concrete actions that tax administrations can take in response to evidence of tax avoidance and evasion, and leading to a multilateral and coordinated approach to the "Panama Papers" data. Effective cooperation of this kind between countries is essential in tackling this worldwide problem, if the international community is to succeed in ensuring that there will be no hiding places for those who seek to escape their tax obligations.

I fully support the widespread move towards increased global financial and tax transparency, and Revenue is at the forefront of international developments for Automatic Exchange of Information. Key developments in this field are the OECD's Common Reporting Standard, the EU's Directives on Administrative Cooperation and the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Initiative. Revenue has advised me that they are considering carefully how to make the best possible use of all data sources of this kind to identify any cases of tax evasion by Irish residents using offshore accounts or structures.

I am committed to supporting any legislative changes that that are needed to tackle tax evasion using offshore structures or accounts and have, for that reason, proposed in the Finance Bill 2016 a measure that would, as and from 1 May 2017, eliminate any possibility of a qualifying disclosure in cases of that kind. Anybody who has tax liabilities relating to offshore matters and who does not act now to address them will, if the proposal is enacted, face the prospect of substantially higher penalties, publication in the Quarterly List of Tax Defaulters and possible prosecution.