Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 35:

In page 59, subsection (1)(f)(iii), to delete lines 25 and 26 and substitute the following:"prejudice the tax and duty collection, audit and enforcement systems, and".

Subsection (1)(f) provides that a committee shall not direct a person to provide information kept for the purposes of assessing the liability of any person in respect of a tax, duty or other payment due to the State. This section is based on subsection (5)(1)(f) of the Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Compellability, Privileges and Immunities of Witnesses) Act, 1997. However, while there was a blanket exemption in the 1997 Act, the current Bill provides for a number of tests to be met, including the weighing of the public interest, in determining whether the information should be provided to the committee. I am proposing an amendment to section 68(1)(f)(iii) to further clarify the prejudicial effect that section seeks to protect.