Ms Josephine Feehily:

I have been thinking about that with a view to deciding what I should do now. I need to reflect on the matter because it came as a complete surprise to me. I will reflect on what we can usefully do in light of this and the Chairman's remarks about the Department. I am disappointed and I think my officials will be disappointed that the officer did not say those things to us so that we could, perhaps, help. As Deputy Deasy pointed out, confidentiality applies to everybody. It is important that we do not focus solely on a handful of cases. Taxpayer confidentiality is an important pillar of tax systems all over the world and it applies to everybody. Several months ago the Minister for Finance stated in the Dáil that even he could not know these details. This is something which has been put in place deliberately and it is in the law. I am taking the committee's word that the claims were made because I am at a disadvantage in this regard but if the officer had concerns we would have seen what we could do to reassure him, short of giving him information about cases, which we cannot do. I need to reflect on the matter.