Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will do our best to provide more detail. I have given my view on the lack of progress on mortgage arrears. The Chairman stated the banks will come before the committee shortly and the Deputy will not upset me if he presses them hard on these issues. The Central Bank made clear its position that setting out the portfolio of interventions would be of benefit, suitable and appropriate and the Department of Finance supports this initiative by the Central Bank. The Houses of the Oireachtas are putting in place support through the provisions of the personal insolvency legislation. The time for excuses is over.

As I stated, the Revenue Commissioners will negotiate like everybody else with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The agreement position for the Revenue Commissioners is to show that extra staff would collect at least their own salary and overheads in additional revenue. This is the best point and is where it will fall with regard to whether it would be an extra ten or 20 people. When the Government took decisions on the property tax it took complementary decisions to provide extra resources and staff to the Revenue Commissioners so this discrete piece of work could be carried out without any crossover effects on its existing task of collecting revenue.

The Deputy stated he had a particular difficulty with regard to costing proposals. I do not know what this difficulty was because every day of the week I clear dozens of parliamentary questions from Deputies and a very high percentage of them ask about the cost of this or that and what the yield would be from another 1%. I send out dozens of these. The Deputy should take it on faith that if he does not receive an accurate costing it is because there is a technical difficulty in providing a costing which we can stand over. Deputy Michael McGrath tables many such questions, and Deputy Pearse Doherty holds the record in that regard.

He submits dozens on a weekly basis. He is obviously putting a portfolio together before the budget on what small movements in tax heads would yield and what tax heads would be lost with reliefs. Deputy Kevin Humphreys is a bit of a practitioner as well. I sent him a great deal of obscure data this week.