Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister and I understand what the Deputy is trying to achieve by this amendment. While we do not disagree in principle with what is proposed - I had exchanges with Deputy Michael McGrath on this issue on Committee Stage - I am unable to accept the amendment for the following reasons.

As Deputy Fleming will be aware, one of the key reforms being introduced is that the Appeal Commissioners will be required to publish on the Internet a report of all their determinations. This report will have to state whether an appellant has requested that a statement of the case be prepared by the Appeals Commissioners in regard to the making of an appeal to the High Court against the Appeal Commissioners' determination. This will provide an indication to all that determinations may have been revised by the courts at a later stage. As stated, while I can see the potential benefit of the Deputy's proposal in regard to making the full and final outcome for each appeal available, I am of the view that it would be impractical to implement and would be an onerous burden on the Appeal Commissioners. The Appeal Commissioners are responsible for their own stage of the appeals process. With the limited exception of whether the High Court might refer an appeal back to them for determination, they cease to have any involvement in an appeal after it has been determined by them. In fact, it may take several years for an appeal to be finally determined by the courts. The parties to any court proceedings are the taxpayer and the Revenue Commissioners rather than the Appeals Commissioners. The Appeals Commissioners are not a notice party to a subsequent appeal to the courts and will not be aware of any subsequent court proceedings or decisions if the parties settled the matter by agreement among themselves. There is no obligation on the courts to notify the Appeals Commissioners of their judgment. It is not appropriate that they would be required to do so.

In the normal course of events, court decisions are published by the Courts Service and the public has access to the decision at that stage. While I am not in a position to accept the Deputy's amendment, I reiterate that an Appeal Commissioner in publishing a determination will have to indicate therein that he or she has been asked by the Appeal Commissioners to prepare a case to make an appeal to the High Court and so it should be flagged at that stage for the citizen or any interested party that there is potential for the case to the moved on to the High Court. For the reasons I have outlined, it is not possible for the Appeals Commissioners, who are not a notice party, to be aware of what is going on in the High Court. Given their independence from Revenue and taking into account the independence of the courts, I am not sure it would be desirable for that to be the case.

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