Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

The Senator's recommendation is one which was debated at some length in the other House. The Tánaiste and Minister for Finance is not convinced still of the merits of the case. The statutory remit of the Ombudsman already incorporates both of the roles proposed for a taxpayers' advocate, namely, acting for taxpayers and investigating actions which are contrary to fair or sound administration.

Since the inception of the Office of the Ombudsman, a significant number of tax queries have been submitted to it. The Ombudsman has carried out a number of special investigations on the office's initiative, such as an investigation into the repayment of tax to certain widows and the operation of schemes for disabled drivers. I must point out that when calls were previously made for the establishment of a taxpayers' advocate, the Ombudsman drew attention to the duplication of roles and responsibilities that such a development would have involved.

Apart from the statutory role and responsibilities of the Ombudsman, other avenues are also open to taxpayers to make their complaints or to seek satisfaction for perceived unfair treatment. They can lodge a customer service complaint about the standard of service received in their personal contact with the Revenue Commissioners. They can complain to a Revenue office by telephone, correspondence, fax and e-mail or in person. In addition, or as an alternative, they can request a review by Revenue of any aspect of the way in which their tax affairs have been handled. Such reviews are carried out by a senior official who was not involved in the original decision. Ultimately, taxpayers who are dissatisfied with their treatment by Revenue can make a statutory appeal to the Appeal Commissioners who, by law, are independent of the Revenue Commissioners.

In the Finance Act 2007, the Minister introduced new schemes to allow the operation of DIRT-exempt accounts, subject to two conditions. These were that the account holder must be 65 or over or permanently incapacitated and that their total income must not exceed their current exemption limit. In 2007, Revenue arranged for an information leaflet to be issued to social welfare customers in receipt of State and other pensions. Approximately 100,000 leaflets were issued in this way and Revenue will continue to publicise through appropriate channels the facility offered by the accounts.

The Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that their ongoing efforts to inform taxpayers of their entitlements are having the desired effect. This is demonstrated in the substantial increase in the number of PAYE taxpayers seeking reviews of their tax liability in the context of claiming additional tax credits and reliefs. The number of PAYE reviews processed in 2006 was 1.14 million, as opposed to 552,000 in 2005.

Revenue staff in front offices dealing with the public and those manning customer helplines are trained to give full assistance to all customers. The fact that few people are enthusiastic about paying taxes is all the more reason for effective channels of complaint and appeal by taxpayers against poor service or unfairness. However, given the comprehensive and accessible system already in place for complaints or appeals by any taxpayer who feels unfairly treated by the tax system, it is not obvious that there is a case for putting in place an additional layer of a tax advocate's office.