The Moriarty tribunal was last week given a fascinating insight into how the Revenue Commissioners come to deal with a well-known taxpayer who breaks the law by failing to pay his fair due. The minutes of meetings between senior tax officials and Haughey's financial advisers are a revelation. Based on the evidence obtained by Moriarty, the Revenue estimated that Haughey faced a tax bill of about 6.5m . . . a conservative estimate because of the type of tax levied . . . but an amount that was still "unattainable", according to a senior Revenue official. Negotiations followed and a final figure of just under 5m was accepted.

Haughey got off lightly. He may be an elderly man now . . . and not in the best of health . . . but the law is the law, we are so often told. In all the material put before the tribunal last week, nowhere is there evidence that the Revenue gave serious consideration to prosecuting Haughey. The threat of prison was seemingly never mentioned.

At an internal meeting in April 2002, senior tax officials set out their strategy for forthcoming meetings with Haughey's advisors. The first point agreed was that they "would try to reach a negotiated settlement. . .". The final point in the minutes refers to the "possible prosecution options to the Revenue Commissioners, including prosecuting for failure to complete the statement of affairs and prosecution for failure to file capital acquisitions tax returns in respect of gifts received."

The important words are "possible prosecution". Even before they entered into serious discussions with Haughey's advisers, the Revenue officials were not serious about hanging the former Fianna Fail leader out to dry.

And, what's more, the settlement deal appears to have been constructed in order to ensure that Haughey's name did not feature in the quarterly list of tax defaulters.

Haughey has been humiliated in the national media as headlines captured the essence of his murky financial affairs. But unlike Ray Burke, he has not experienced the inside of a prison cell, and for that the Revenue Commissioners . . . in their desire for a settlement over protecting the integrity of the tax system . . . stand indicted.