Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister came forward with the concept of all hearings being heard in public. This idea was supported by Revenue and the appeals commissioners. Obviously, there was a pre-legislative stage at this committee. The Minister has not all accepted all the recommendations that were made at that time. It is a question of the Minister's judgment. The Minister is cognisant of the very strong views that were expressed by many members of this committee and by many stakeholders that came before the committee. That is the result of the change the Minister announced on Second Stage, as outlined by Deputy McGrath. It is important to say that this Bill will bring a new level of transparency and openness, in the sense that all determinations will now have to be published in a mandatory fashion. It is fair to say that many determinations had not been published. I think the new provision to which I have referred, which will ensure all determinations are published, will bring a new and additional layer of transparency to the process. I am sure this is something to which we will return on Report Stage. We can discuss it further then. The Minister was swayed by the strong views expressed by this committee when it reported to him following the pre-legislative stage.