The Workers’ Party have described the €15,000 sentence against Deputy Michael Lowry for having knowingly delivered incorrect corporation tax returns and his failure to keep proper accounts as a gross affront to the two million workers in this country who pay their taxes and who contribute the vast bulk of tax paid into the Irish economy.

Workers Party Cork city councillor, Ted Tynan, said  Mr. Lowry’s sentence had been a pittance and was in stark contrast to the jail sentences handed out over recent years to people for not having up to date television licences or for minor fines.

“We are talking here, not about an innocent abroad, but about a former senior cabinet minister and long serving Dáil deputy who would have been very familiar with the tax laws in this country. His knowledge of tax rules was sufficient to see him avail of a tax amnesty introduced by a previous coalition in the 1990s. He worked the system for what it was worth and when it suited him, he worked beyond the law”.

Councillor Tynan said Deputy Lowry should have been given a significant custodial sentence. “Instead he has been able to walk out of court with a beaming smile and declare himself a free man. Had he been declared insolvent he would have been automatically barred from remaining as a member of the Oireachtas, instead he will remain as a government supporting deputy enacting laws which seem not to apply to members of his class, or to apply at a much more lenient level”

The Workers’ Party councillor called on Deputy Lowry to resign his seat and urged him to not to seek to create a Lowry dynasty in North Tipperary. “Deputy Lowry and his likes should have no place in the parliament of this country. As long as they do and as long as they are given special treatment in our courts then there can be no doubt but there is one law in this country for those with wealth and positions of power and another for the working class”