Mr. Mark Redmond:

I thank the Chairman and members for the invitation to appear before the committee. We really appreciate the engagement of members of this committee and their colleagues in the Oireachtas in the consultation process over the past months which has led to today's welcome announcement. This announcement will be very good news for small businesses throughout the country. I also thank the hundreds of members of Irish Tax Institute who engaged with members of the committee and other Members of the Oireachtas on this issue. I am joined by Ms Sandra Clarke, Irish Tax Institute council member and a tax practitioner with BCC accountants in Ashbourne; Mr. Billy Irwin, a member of the institute and a tax practitioner with OBI in Limerick; and Ms Cora O'Brien who is director of policy with the institute.

The pay and file system ensures that 600,000 income tax returns are filed correctly and on time every year. The compliance rate is 98% and the money due is paid on time. The pay and file system has been described as a public private partnership that works. It delivers for the State year in, year out because of the collective effort of the three groups, namely, the self-assessed taxpayers, Revenue and the tax adviser community.

We understand why change was proposed. The Government wants as much certainty as is reasonably possible in regard to tax outturns when presenting future budgets in mid-October. However, because of their understanding of the pressures facing the self-employed and small businesses and their knowledge of the pay and file system, our members explained why there should be no change to that system.

Change would have put businesses under severe cash flow pressure. It would have undermined the high level of compliance and impaired the quality of tax returns being filed. Other organisations share that view. The Irish Farmers' Association, the Small Firms Association and the chambers of commerce, to name a few, all said that any change would have been bad for business and for their members. The impact any change would have had is best told by those who helped deliver a 98% compliance rate.

With the Chairman's permission, I will invite Ms Sandra Clarke and Mr. Billy Irwin to make a brief statement before Ms Cora O'Brien makes her contribution.