The Office of the Revenue Commissioners has queried what happened to hundreds of thousands of euros in taxes collected but not paid over by the operator of the Green Hen restaurant in Dublin.
In advance of a Circuit Court hearing on Friday where Chequer Catering Ltd, operator of the well-known Exchequer Street restaurant, was to seek the protection of the court, the Revenue made clear it would not be granting the company a tax clearance certificate.
This meant it would not be able to secure a liquor licence, key to the restaurant’s survival. The company withdrew its application for protection and the Revenue successfully applied to the High Court later on Friday for the appointment of a provisional liquidator.
The company has not had a liquor licence since September 2022. Yet when excise control officers visited the restaurant this year, they were served alcohol, according to an affidavit filed by the Revenue for the Circuit Court.
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The attachments to the affidavit include a receipt from February listing, as well as steak and chips, and French onion soup, a glass of Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum and a glass of Tempranillo (wine). A similar receipt from November includes a glass of wine from Languedoc.
“It is noteworthy that several [of the company’s] creditors are for the supply of wine: Boutique Wines, Caubet Wines, Dalcassian Wines, Liberty Wines, Wines Direct, Winelabs,” the Revenue affidavit said.
It quoted a report that accompanied the abandoned request for court protection: “The directors advise that, historically, the sale of wine and alcohol in the restaurant would have accounted for approximately 35 per cent of overall turnover. This is a critical component of the overall trade and essential to the future viability of the business.”
The company is controlled by well-known publican, Frank Gleeson, of Castleknock, Dublin 15, who is a director. Ciara Fox, of Celbridge, Co Kildare, is also a director and shareholder.
The Revenue said an investigation of the company’s trading history should be carried out.
“It is very clear to Revenue that the directors of the company caused it to trade on an insolvent basis for an extended period of time,” it said.
The company had a turnover of €2.2 million last year, and €2.3 million in 2022, according to the affidavit; €751,266 is owed to the Revenue, arising from PAYE, PRSI, USC, local property tax, corporation tax, and VAT, with the unpaid tax stretching back to December 2019. The company traded without a tax clearance certificate.
The Revenue has repeatedly seized money from the company’s bank account and by attending its premises. The Revenue Sheriff visited the premises on dates in 2016, 2017, 2023, and 2024, collecting sums of varying sizes.
“The takings for a two-day period, ending December 5th, 2024, were handed over to the Sheriff and all card payments were transferred, totalling €20,682.”
In an email on December 16th to the company’s solicitors, the Revenue noted that court papers said the company had losses of €62,000 over the last two years.
“How did the Revenue debt become so high in that time when the losses were small in proportion?” it asked.
“It is unknown from any submitted report where the majority of the taxes, received in 2023 and 2024, but not paid over to the Revenue, were spent on.”
The Revenue had not received answers to its queries at the time the affidavit was sworn, it said.
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