Mr. Michael Gladney:

Our debt has stabilised very well in recent years. Notwithstanding the resource issues Ms Feehily mentioned we have fine-tuned our debt collection systems to a point where the €580 million is picked up, starting at tier 1 and going to tier 5, almost within days of becoming due. Almost 700 people are involved in the debt process, including some in compliance who contact these taxpayers as the debt becomes due on a risk basis. They start with those most risky and work through them. In addition to human resources we have very good technology supporting the debt collection process. We are able to evaluate the risk, and slice, dice and cut it to ensure our interventions hit the higher risk cases much quicker than they did before. We are able to do this on an individual debt management unit basis. We segregate debt now, and technology allows us to do this. Every county or collection area has different types of taxpayers depending on the location. We are able to slice and dice the debt and ensure we put in place the appropriate mechanisms as we go along. As Ms Feehily stated the report is a snapshot in time and it was a significant amount, but the committee should be aware the debt is being collected and moved on month by month. New debt comes in and old debt-----