Ms Deirdre Donaghy:

No. We anticipate there will be ongoing contact during the year, as there currently is. The primary purpose of having a chairman, particularly as the number of commissioners increases, is because it is important to have one identified head of the office who is responsible. There are a number of different areas of responsibility for the commission currently under the Act but the purpose will be to focus these responsibilities in the chairman such as, for example, the putting of reports to the Minister. The Tax Appeals Commission will remain a body under the aegis of the Department of Finance. The body is statutorily independent in the exercise of its functions as an appeals body but nonetheless it is accountable to the Department in its expenditure and the delivery of its functions. We have ongoing contact with the commissioners regarding its annual budget and annual spend, for example, and we have constant contact in relation to answering parliamentary questions. This contact would continue throughout the year but the chairman, essentially, will be the one identifiable person who has the overall responsibility for ensuing the commission is meeting its requirements.