Forum insists on action against tax evasion, benefit fraud

The FORUM group of trade unions in a memorandum to political parties is calling on whoever wins the forthcoming general election to wage a campaign against tax evasion and benefit fraud. Group president John Bencini told a press conference this morning that tax evasion, including evasion of VAT, was rampant. Effective action against evasion, he said, would yield considerable revenue for the government without burdening the law-abiding workers. Mr Bencini aid the Forum was insisted on transparency and accountability throughout the administration. He said the government should be a model employer and it should ensure that precarious jobs were deterred. For starters, it should be ensured that those contractors working for the government did not abuse of their workers. He said the government should not raise the retirement age and should resist EU pressure to do so. The government should also take a stronger line with the EU regarding burden-sharing of migrants.   Mr Bencini said the FORUM was insisting on priorities in government spending. It was unacceptable, for example, that the Education Ministry in a year spent more than €1 million on consultancies, despite the experts it had...