Louth’s shadow economy ‘not fair to businesses doing everything right’

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

A Louth councillor said he was “dismayed” at the Revenue response to his calls for more investigation of the “shadow economy.”

Cllr. Ciaran Fisher had called for questions to be asked on shops which, he said, appeared to be making profits despite little footfall.

Speaking at the October meeting of Louth County Council, Cllr. Ciaran Fisher acknowledged the response from the Revenue Commissioners saying that he understood they could not attend council meetings around the country.

But, he added: “I am dismayed that they appear not to want to engage with elected representatives. I know that you can report something on their website, but once you do that you don’t get a ticket number and you can’t see how your case has advanced.”

He said this was “obscuring the transparency for the public” and suggested that the issues he had raised be brought to the attention of Oireachtas members in Louth.

"There are very serious concerns that we have about the shadow economy, it is taking up shop premises and is affecting our streetscape.”

Cllr. Fisher said: “It isn’t fair to other businesses who are doing everything right.”

In a published response the Revenue Commissioners stated: “Challenging shadow economy activity and restricting opportunities for deliberate tax and duty evasion is a priority.”

They outlined that sectors subject to shadow economy compliance interventions include but are not limited to retail, hospitality, mobile phone and vape shops, hairdressers/barbers, and courier services. Interventions by Revenue may include targeted visits and interviews with individuals on-site.

Revenue did confirm they would not be attending a meeting of Louth County Council due to “taxpayer confidentiality.”

At the October council meeting, Thomas McEvoy, Deputy Chief Executive at Louth County Council, said he has had engagement with the Revenue on the concerns raised by Cllr. Fisher.

He said they had emphasised that where there is fraud it should be reported to gardai, and whether it is elected members or the public, if they had evidence they should go to An Garda Siochana.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Initiative