Mr. Shay Cody:

When the relief was first introduced, Revenue entered into an arrangement whereby large employers who had, for example, huge battalions on check-outs, were empowered to notify the Revenue Commissioners of all those in their workforce who were paying trade union subscriptions, which probably accounted for approximately three quarters of the recorded tax cases in a very administratively convenient way. Beyond that, trade unions and individuals sometimes submitted data banks. However, the Revenue was able to get it up and running very quickly by using the employers' payroll information. It would probably be easy to do the same if this was in place next year.