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

So we are discussing a financial IT systems process, not a legislative process, and there is nothing in the legislation insisting on payment before Christmas. I understand there is no impediment to the Revenue getting a property owner's credit card details and processing payment at a later date. The advice I have received through the secretariat from two card payment processors taken at random from the Irish Payment Services Organisation, IPSO, website is that there are three very developed types of processes. First, for bookings such as hotels or pick-up tickets for a bus or a concert they allow for a zero charge validation to ensure the bona fides of the card holder. They guarantee that the person booking is the card holder and if that person decides to cancel, there is no charge to them.

The second type is for variable charges such as utility bills, phone services and motorway tolls. Many people use the M50. The old toll gate was a serious problem. It now uses a credit card system. The third type is for monthly or quarterly charges such as subscription charges or charitable donations. This would allow somebody with a debit or credit card to not only have the lump sum payment taken out once in the year the tax is due but have it staged to remove the tax on a monthly basis. We are talking about a systems as opposed to a legislative issue.