Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 153: To ask the Minister for Finance if an application for tax relief for refuse charges can be processed for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11240/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I have been advised by the Revenue Commissioners that the taxpayer's claim for tax relief on refuse charges has been processed and notification of refunds arising to her, dated 20 March 2006, has been issued.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 154: To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the considerable volume of complaints regarding errors and problems regarding certificates of tax free allowances and tax credits; the volumes of complaints received; if his attention has further been drawn to the frustration that people are experiencing in trying to have their tax certificates corrected; if his attention has further been drawn to the fact that it is frequently difficult, if not impossible, to get through to the Revenue Commissioners' inquiry lines; and if he will make a statement on the matter regarding proposals he has which could improve the situation and also advise people how long it may take to correct errors in tax certificates. [11242/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that 2.2 million individual tax credit certificates reflecting the budget changes were issued in the 2006 "bulk issue". Errors or other problems relating to tax credit certificates may arise for a number of reasons, for instance, at the time of the bulk issue each year, Revenue may not be aware of changed circumstances of certain customers. This can result in tax credit certificates being issued that do not reflect the most up-to-date position for a customer.

A new PAYE computer system was put in place by Revenue in October last. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that this new system forms the foundation for a range of improved services for PAYE customers that will be rolled out later this year. The bulk issue of tax credit certificates for 2006 was the first in the new system and Revenue advises me that tax credit entitlements for some customers were affected in the major changeover process. However, the overall percentage of incorrect certificates was still relatively small.

The Revenue Commissioners have assured me that they have had, and continue to have, a very active process of identifying any such customers and have, where appropriate, issued amended notices to employers for the vast majority of the cases affected to enable the employers to immediately adjust the payroll deductions. Amended tax credit certificates to the individuals concerned have also been issued as part of this process and any entitlements are backdated to the start of the year.

Each year the bulk issue generates a very high level of queries from PAYE customers. The first quarter is also the peak season for requests for PAYE balancing statements for the previous year. I am assured by Revenue that it is doing everything possible to deal with these queries as speedily as possible, including by way of allocating additional resources to the telephone services.

Later this year, Revenue will introduce a suite of on-line services for PAYE customers. The current PAYE self-service and telephony options will also be expanded. These initiatives will facilitate PAYE taxpayers in "self-managing" their own tax affairs, including adjusting their certificates to reflect their correct entitlements.

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 155: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will establish from the Revenue Commissioners, in the interest of the speedy conduct of business in public offices, whether consideration has been given to separate queuing arrangements for people for whom English is their first language; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11299/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that they are aware of the growing customer service pressures in their public offices. The additional pressures are due to an increased number of customers, an increasing number of customers who have more than one employment and the number of customers who do not have English as their first language.

In response to these pressures and to improve customer service standards Revenue has deployed additional staff in its public offices. It will shortly be providing translations of the most commonly used explanatory leaflets and forms in a number of international languages, including Polish, Lithuanian, Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Czech and Slovakian. I also understand that Revenue's main public office, in Dublin's O'Connell Street, is to undergo a major expansion and the new facilities will be available before the end of this year. The provision of separate queuing arrangements based on the language spoken by the customer is not under consideration.

Revenue provides a range of contact options for customers which reduce the need for personal visits to the tax offices to access information on tax matters. It has put in place a number of self-service channels for customers that allow them to request forms and leaflets or claim certain amendments to their tax credit certificate without the need for direct contact with a staff member. This can now be done using touch-tone telephone, text messaging or the Internet. Later this year Revenue will introduce a more extensive suite of on-line and telephony services for PAYE taxpayers. These initiatives will facilitate PAYE taxpayers in "self-managing" their tax affairs, including adjusting their tax credit certificates to reflect their current entitlements, and requesting balancing statements.

Revenue is confident that the measures to be put in place will lead to a greatly improved service for all its customers, including a reduction in queuing time at its public offices.

Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 156: To ask the Minister for Finance the percentage in 2005 or the latest available figures for persons who avail of tax relief in respect of pension contributions who are from the lowest 20% of income earners; and the percentage which are from the highest 20% of income earners. [11300/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the most recent relevant information available is in respect of income tax relief allowed for contributions to "retirement annuity contracts" for the income tax year 2002, which are available to the self-employed and to employees not in occupational pension schemes.

On the basis of these data, some 1,300, or0.3%, of the lowest-earning 20% of income earners on tax records availed of this relief and some 57,600 or 15.8% of the highest earning 20% of income earners availed of this relief.

It is not possible to provide corresponding figures in regard to the take-up of the tax relief for pension contributions by employers and employees as the relevant data are not captured in such a way as to make this possible.

The information on incomes is based on income returns on Revenue records at the time the data were compiled for analytical purposes, representing about 95% of all returns expected.

A married couple who have elected or have been deemed to have elected for joint assessment are counted as one tax unit.