Independent TD Mick Wallace has been disqualified from involvement in companies for six years by the High Court.

Mr Justice Robert Haughton disqualified Mr Wallace on the grounds of unfitness arising from his stewardship of the affairs of his construction company MJ Wallace Ltd.

The main issue leading to the disqualification was a €1.4 million under-declaration of VAT to the Revenue over two years between 2008 and 2010.

The judge said Mr Wallace should be given due credit for how he dealt with the matter.

He said taking all matters into account, the appropriate period of disqualification was six years and Mr Wallace should also pay €5,000 costs, plus VAT, of the application.

The judge described the under-declaration as deliberate and systemic and he said it amounted to a fraud on the Revenue.

He accepted the under-declaration was for a limited period and was around the time of the worst recession during the history of the State.

He said some other companies experiencing similar difficulties also deferred tax payments in efforts to continue to trade.

The judge accepted an effort to remain in business was the motivation for the underdeclaration and, when the company later met with Revenue, full disclosure of underpayment was made, the matter was dealt with promptly and an agreement was reached.

The agreement with Revenue was the reason Mr Wallace got a tax clearance certificate in 2011 and 2012, he said.

It was also to its credit the company repaid Revenue €10,000 monthly until it ceased to trade after being placed in receivership by ACC Bank in 2011.

The order, under Section 842.d of the Companies Act 2014, prevents Mr Wallace being involved in the running of any company on grounds of unfitness.

Mr Wallace had offered to consent to the lesser sanction of a restriction order under the Companies Act, which would prevent his involvement in a company for five years unless it met specified capital requirements.

That offer was not accepted by Mr Leydon, appointed liquidator over M.J. Wallace by Promontoria Aran, a subsidiary of US fund Cerberus, arising from a €2m judgment obtained by the fund against the company in relation to the Italian Quarter development in Dublin.

Arising from their stewardship as directors of the company prior to the liquidator's appointment, Mr Leydon brought proceedings under the Companies Act against the TD and his son Sasha.

Mr Wallace, who previously raised questions over the Cerberus €1.6 billion purchase from NAMA of a group of Northern Ireland-linked loans, called Project Eagle, was earlier this month refused orders requiring the liquidator to discover documents concerning the motivation for the proceedings.

Yesterday, Mr Leydon accepted an offer of a restriction order from Sasha Wallace, described as a "passive" non-executive director of the company, and the court made that order but pursued the disqualification order application against Mick Wallace.