Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 151: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of public servants earning less than €30,000 who work in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2248/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the latest relevant historical information available on the incomes of employees taxed under the PAYE system is derived from income tax returns filed for the income tax year 2007 representing about 96% of all returns expected at the time the data were complied for analytical purposes.

On this basis the numbers of persons classified as public sector employees in Dublin City and County earning a gross income of less than €30,000 is 47,218 and 10,565 respectively. However, care needs to be exercised in relation to these figures as they include persons in receipt of various payments from public sources who would not normally be regarded as public servants e.g. those in receipt of fees, those on State Boards etc. Furthermore, the data does not distinguish earnings from atypical work patterns, work sharing or short time work.

An estimated breakdown of the figures on a geographical basis is available on the basis of "bailiwick", meaning, in this case, the jurisdiction or boundaries within which Revenue Sheriffs, County Registrars or their officers operate for the purposes of enforcement of tax debt. It equates geographically with "county" while also providing separate breakdowns for "city" and "county" in the case of counties Dublin and Cork. The data relating to the allocation by city or county of PAYE employees should be treated with caution. This is because it has been the practice to associate each employee with the city or county in which his or her employer is registered for PAYE purposes, regardless of the address of the actual workplace or of the individual's home address.

The source of the information provided in relation to numbers and tax is the P35 end year returns filed by employers in respect of their employees but does not include the corresponding figures relating to PAYE taxpayers who are required to return an income tax return form 11 where non-PAYE income is greater than €3,174.

The sector identifier used on the tax records is based on the 4-digit NACE code (Rev. 1), which is an internationally recognised economic activity code system. The information provided in relation to Public Sector employees is based on activities which are classified in the NACE code system as Public Administration and Defence; compulsory Social Security, Education and Health and Social work but excluding the categories of Driving School Activities, Dental Practice Activities and Veterinary Activities as being more appropriate to the Private Sector. A married couple, which has elected or has been deemed to have elected for joint assessment, is counted as one tax unit.