The tax office has begun a drive to recruit 1,600 new tax officials to crack down on tax evasion and ensure outstanding bills are paid.

Thousands of jobs have gone at the tax office over the past few years because of government cutbacks. Creating the new jobs was included in the coalition agreement.

The job losses have led to further losses for the treasury because the department does not have enough staff to do the work. Finance ministry research showed tax debts of up to €1,500 for individuals and €5,000 for companies were often not collected, Nos television said.

The new inspectors are expected to raise at least an extra €265m for the treasury this year, rising to €660m in several years time.