John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A number of issues were raised about Departments and how they engage with the public in terms of the collection of taxes. Mr. Moran refers in various publications to the need to be transparent and to encourage the public to have a better understanding of how Departments work. I received an e-mail from a business person I know in which an issue was raised. I was told that since raising the issue relative to the proper management by a Department in the location in which the man is based, it has put the knife in at every opportunity. He said the Department takes a personal interest in the company because of the matters it raised. He said the Department ignores e-mails from him to the relevant section. An individual on the site said she was terrorised by being told she would be prosecuted if she did not take appropriate action. It was also said the Department was vindictive at a cost to the taxpayer. That is the reality of how somebody thinks of the Department and its administration in terms of governance.

Separate to that, I wish to refer Mr. Moran to a court case, which I accept is from some years ago. A citizen was taken to court by a Department and eventually the judge stood down the jury and declared that the Department did not put forward a credible case. The judge had some extremely harsh words for the Department concerned. Taxpayers' money was used to beat down an individual. In spite of winning the case and walking away with his integrity intact, the individual still has not been paid for the loss he had in terms of his business, in which the Department had a hand. I have come across such cases over the years, and I am not the only one to whom people write, and those cases still remain unresolved.

What concerns me is the use of taxpayers' money in the beating up, so to speak, of the citizen and then the stonewalling to see just how far the individual will go to have his or her rights vindicated. What does the Department of Finance say to Departments where something as obvious as that happens? Is the Department concerned that the collection of taxes and the use of taxpayers' money in this way by Departments is ongoing?

Does the Department have a role given that it collects the taxes in the first instance?