John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Pages 35 to 37 of A Programme for a Partnership Government deal with the issue of tax compliance. Tax compliance works both ways, in that Revenue has an obligation to allow citizens to reclaim tax in a timely manner. Prior to 1 January, someone would have used a Med 1 form to reclaim medical expenses. It was a two-page, simple and straightforward form that came with an explanatory page. It has since been replaced by a form 12S, which is 14 pages long and is only available to someone who has Internet and email access. As the Tánaiste knows, many elderly people do not have access to email accounts, broadband or even the Internet. Will he ask the Minister for Finance to intervene and ensure the return of the simple Med 1 form? I do not know whether other constituency offices are like mine, but numerous people have attended my office over being unable to manage this complex and difficult form and we have had to try to fill out the forms for them, open up emails for them, etc. Removing the Med 1 form has been unhelpful to citizens. Will the Government have it reinstated, please, to make the system easy for people to use?

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