Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

At the conclusion of the meeting I will have a word with Ms Feehily because I do not want to create any undue concern. I thank Ms Feehily and her officers for coming before the committee at such short notice and for the spirit in which they engaged with us. The Revenue Commissioners are not accountable to Government. They are independent. The structure of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform is also separate from Government. As Ms Feehily has probably noticed, questions come from diverse political groups on the committee.

In my time as Chairman I think I have accommodated every request for somebody to come before this committee. I accommodated one earlier this afternoon in regard to the insurance industry. I do not think it is appropriate that if one group asks for somebody to come before the committee, everybody else disclaims ownership of it. If we create that precedent, future invitations will become very politicised. I would not like to see that precedent being created.

The information from, and engagement with, the Revenue Commissioners this evening have been very positive. They have cleared up many issues. We greatly appreciate the spirit of the engagement.

To return to Deputy Spring’s comment, my last question is to clear up a legislative matter Deputy Creed raised earlier. Is it possible for Revenue to include or classify as entering into an arrangement the position whereby a property owner elects to pay the tax in one lump sum by way of credit card or debit card that is processed by 15 January? Is that regarded as compliant? One can defer the payment to 21 March. Let us forget about the data security issues and the coding that finance IT systems require. Am I right in saying that the legislation allows for a credit card deduction to take place later than 1 January?