Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

I want to make two observations. First, Deputy Mansergh made the point that after two or three months it was too early to extrapolate what the overall position would be. If one was to look at the HSE's website, it held a board meeting at the end of February 2007 at which it was clearly indicated that there would be a deficit of €200 million or €300 million. However, no action was taken. We did not hear about the matter until after the general election. One can only judge on the information one has available. I would be interested to hear the Minister's reply to Deputy Bruton on what proposals he has to deal with public expenditure and the economy. Certainly, in terms of the assumptions made in preparation of the budget, the Minister based his figures on 55,000 house completions. At the time it was generally recognised in the marketplace that the figure would be as low as 35,000, which as the Minister well knows could result in a shortfall of €2 billion at a minimum.

On the amendment, thankfully, this morning I heard a radio advertisement on the issuing of tax credit certificates in which people were asked to log on to the Revenue website to check their entitlements. The amendment makes particular reference to pensioners, most of whom will not use the Internet. Such advertisements, many of which are being run on local radio, should be amended to include for the purposes of practicality a reference that people should contact their local tax office.

On the extra cost, we are looking to use public resources and services in the most efficient manner possible. Deputy Burton's amendment refers to the setting up within the office of the Ombudsman of a particular section to deal with PAYE taxpayers' rights. I do not see that costing a significant amount of money. It would be a highly efficient use of public resources. We should not have been in a position where there was a need for refunds of the order of €530 million in 2007 and €407 million in 2006. Looking back further, there were refunds of the order of €277 million in 2004 and €357 million in 2005. That amounts to approximately €700 per person on average. Nearly 520,000 persons applied for a tax refund in 2005. We should progress to a point where people could receive a refund by way of their tax credits rather than having to apply for it at the end of the year. The proposal is practical in orientation, would not cost the Exchequer a significant amount and would introduce a fair system. I await the Minister's comments.

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