Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I understand what the Minister of State said and I am sure he understands the point I make. I accept it will not be dealt with specifically in this legislation. I acknowledge that paragraph (c) provides that the Appeals Commissioners must indicate in their statement if a case has been referred to the High Court. I accept that some of the cases that proceed to the High Court will be between the taxpayer and the Revenue Commissioners and that, as the Minister of State said, the Appeals Commissioners might have no involvement in that regard. Perhaps it could be provided for somewhere in the system that the Revenue Commissioners in a report each year would publish the details of the outcome of cases in which they were involved. As these cases will have been heard by the High Court, confidentiality will not be an issue. What I am proposing would be useful.

The mentality in public life is such that each silo, on the conclusion of a process, is required to publish only details of that process that are relevant to it, but such information would not be the full picture. I accept that it is possible to access the full details of cases on the High Court website. However, in terms of public administration generally and in the interests of the citizen, it would be helpful if, for example, the Revenue Commissioners would publish these details annually in a report. Perhaps they already do so. If not, perhaps a provision which would meet the spirit of what I am proposing could be introduced in the future.

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