Ireland's inequality and taxes on Vincent Browne

[Kevin Doyle]

Hopi doesn't do intelligence, but if he did............it probably wouldn't be very good.

Thats rich coming from you, just which gallery do you think you're talking to?

[hopi watcher]

Hopi doesn't do intelligence, but if he did............it probably wouldn't be very good.

What I said was there were some who "by claiming what they are not entitled to and by not making any effort to get a job.".

I made no categorice accusation against the majority of people on Social Welfare. You continue to argue against yourself.

Both cases are criminals, they are defrauding the state because they are claiming what they are not legally entitled to. They are not 'welfare recipients'. Now what was that you were saying about intelligence?
Foghorn, about all you got right!!

[Foghorn]

jay lad yer ded rite buh wat de fuk is a hopi

I've been wondering the same thing myself!

[Foghorn]

Thats rich coming from you, just which gallery do you think you're talking to?

Don't worry Kev, I wasn't leaving you out of that comment either! You can always be counted upon to come up short!

[Kevin Doyle]

Don't worry Kev, I wasn't leaving you out of that comment either! You can always be counted upon to come up short!

Ach...I'm devastated

[An Gilladaker]

Well if a Social Welfare recipient defrauds the Welfare System they are criminals. Just as if Business people or the Wealthy defraud a company they are criminals.

Ah but who will get a gaol sentence

[Andrew49]

Ah but who will get a gaol sentence

Welfare fraudsters get sent to prison far more than tax cheats. Only six people have done time in prison in the past decade for tax dodging - despite an array of tax evasion scams being revealed. But eight times that number, or 48 people, have received jail sentences for social welfare scamming since 1997.

Figures over 10 years show the system seems to be far tougher on fraudulent welfare claims than on tax dodging.

It emerged that the biggest tax evaders in the history of the State (up to 2006 that is) did not face any criminal prosecution. Brothers Michael and Tom Bailey, the proprietors of the construction giant Bovale, made a settlement for €22m - the largest tax settlement ever seen in the country. Yet the Revenue Commissioners said a prosecution was not tenable in the case. The statistics show that a total of 12 years in prison time was served by 48 people since 1997 for welfare fraud. Meanwhile, three years and nine months in prison was completed by six tax dodgers. So while tax dodgers get longer sentences, on average, prison sentences for tax offences are fewer. There were 3,183 prosecutions initiated for welfare fraud and 39 prosecutions for tax evasion. Nobody was jailed for tax dodging in six of the past 10 years. Suspended sentences, community service and fines were imposed in numerous cases for both tax and welfare offences.

The taxman has taken in €2.25bn from special investigations into scams including DIRT, NIB, Ansbacher, Pick Me Up Schemes, Offshore Accounts and Life Assurance Products. These tax scams involved over 32,000 cases. The passage of time, the difficulty in collecting evidence, the likelihood of getting people to co-operate and the burden of proof are all seen by Revenue as serious barriers to taking prosecutions in tax evasion cases.

The number of prosecutions for social welfare fraud is still 10 times that of Revenue for serious cases. The social welfare cases still go through the courts.

Steal a penny and you go to jail, steal a million, ah sure you'll be grand

[hopi watcher]

I've been wondering the same thing myself!

Care to share why with us?