Mr. John O'Callaghan:

I have now stretched the analogy rather a lot but, essentially, in the parking ticket system, there would have to be another mechanism whereby the Deputy was applying for time to pay as well as possibly appealing. In the tax system, people mostly start sending information to Revenue after they have submitted their appeal. Correspondence then ensues and in the vast majority of cases agreement is reached. To try to use the appeal function as a way of getting the Revenue Commissioners to smarten up, and I am not suggesting for a minute that they need to, is over-stretching the appeal function. Revenue is well capable and its systems are very good.