Results 381-400 of 1,760 for speaker:Aideen Hayden

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Possible Exit of UK from European Union: Discussion (Resumed) (26 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: I will go back to basics. The word "Schengen" is tossed around a lot, and although I thought I understood it, having listened to Professor Maher, I realise I do not. Professor Maher said the Schengen accord removes internal borders and establishes a common external frontier and, thus, common visa, asylum and immigration policies. The reason the UK would not consider entering Schengen was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Possible Exit of UK from European Union: Discussion (Resumed) (26 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: Good. It is complex from a legal perspective. I have a nerdy question. In the section of her paper on opting in or opting out, Professor Maher said, "The reason for this opt-out for Ireland seems to have been driven by concerns about the integrity of the common law system and differences with the civil law traditions dominant in other member states and by the fact the UK was going to opt...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: I note the decisions taken at the Joint sub-Committee on European Scrutiny earlier today. For the information of members, the sub-committee decided that the following proposals did not warrant further scrutiny: COM (2014) 473, COM (2014) 494, COM (2015) 4, COM (2015) 5, COM (2015) 11, COM (2015) 22, COM (2015) 23, COM (2015) 24, COM (2015) 25, COM (2015) 26, COM (2015) 27, COM (2015) 28 and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: I welcome from the Office of the Appeal Commissioners Mr. John O'Callaghan, tax appeal commissioner. The format of the meeting will be that Mr. O'Callaghan will make some opening remarks, which will be followed by a question and answer session to clarify any matter that needs to be clarified. By virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009, witnesses are protected by absolute...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: I have one point before I hand over questioning to Deputy Pearse Doherty. It relates to Mr. O'Callaghan's covering letter. He wished to put on the record of the House that he is disputing some of the evidence given in the oral submissions to this committee on the level of cases with which his office deals. Does he want to bring this to the committee's attention?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: The matter is included in the draft report of this committee, so I do not think it is any harm to clarify the issue for the record. I will now move to Deputy Pearse Doherty. I propose that, as normal, we have slots of ten minutes, with questions and answers, and if there are any supplementary questions, we can come back to them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: I have a couple of questions to ask. Nearly all of us are concerned about the same aspects of the proposed legislation. I share the concerns of Deputies Tom Barry and Kieran O'Donnell. When I saw it first, I thought so what if it was in the public domain, but the more I explored the issue, the more concerned I became in an inverse way. The less well-off will be more inclined to be afraid...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: This is particularly the case with groups such as the elderly. My parents would pay any amount of tax rather than have to ring the Revenue Commissioners, let alone make an appeal. That any of their neighbours would know a personal detail such as how much they earn or how much their pension is would absolutely be a no-no in making an application to the Appeal Commissioners. It is important...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: I accept Deputy Kieran O'Donnell's point that Mr. O'Callaghan is at the coalface of the system and that his view is of value, even if it is, as Mr. O'Callaghan stated, a personal one. We are looking at proposed changes to legislation, but I am not entirely sure what is wrong with the existing structure. We seem to have been given the impression that there are millions, almost billions, of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: That now appears to be the situation. We are not dealing with hundreds of cases. One of the documents Mr. O'Callaghan submitted to the committee deals with the number of appeals handled by the Appeals Commissioners. The yearly statistics for the years from 2010 to 2014 show that between 361 and 488 requests for hearing were received by the Appeals Commissioners and the appeals heard in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: I am sorry. For example, roughly how many hearings took place last year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: With 400 requests and 400 hearings, it would seem to indicate that the process works reasonably speedily.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: That is in a fairly slender margin with only four employees and a budget of approximately €400,000.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: I am not clear as to what is wrong here. However, one of the issues relates to openness and transparency. The Appeals Commissioners' determinations are in the main oral rather than written.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: Is there any reason the Office of the Appeals Commissioners could not be given additional resources and make its determinations in writing but with the names redacted so that they cannot be identified?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: There is no reason it could not be done.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: With additional resources the Office of the Appeals Commissioners could give the kind of public information we appear to want to have without getting into the issue of public hearings in the main.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: What is wrong with the current system if it is not broken bar a little bit of additional transparency? Mr. O'Callaghan said that the only place people can go if they have an issue with the finding of fact is the Circuit Court.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: It is only on a point of law and it is also an incredibly expensive process. The Circuit Court is a safeguard if there is a dispute over facts.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Draft Heads of Finance (Tax Appeals Commission) Bill: Discussion (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Aideen Hayden: It does not seem to be broken to me with the exception of some additional resources.