Written answers

Tuesday, 8 July 2014

Photo of Niall CollinsNiall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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178. To ask the Minister for Finance if his Department or agencies under its auspices have engaged the services of a debt collection agency in pursuing moneys owed to them; if his Department has guidelines regarding hiring such agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29330/14]

Photo of Michael NoonanMichael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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In response to the Deputy's question my Department has not engaged the services of a debt collection agency.

I am advised by Revenue that it is charged with the collection and recovery of a wide range of taxes and duties and that it uses certain debt collection agencies to assist it in this regard.

By way of general information, Revenue has a strong focus on making sure that everyone complies with their tax and duty responsibilities by paying the correct amount due on a timely basis and will only deploy debt collection/enforcement powers in circumstances where it is necessary to do so to protect the Exchequer. Such action will only be deployed as a last resort and Revenue will always firstly make every effort to engage positively with the business/taxpayer in an effort to agree mutually acceptable solutions subject to the financial viability of the business/taxpayer being confirmed. Revenue's commitment in this regard is clearly obvious given that it is currently providing phased payment concessions to almost 16,000 taxpayers/businesses covering approximately €123m of debt in preference to using debt collection/enforcement powers.

Revenue has confirmed to me that it uses six 'external' solicitor firms to assist it in debt recovery through the Courts. The six firms who are selected through a competitive tendering process operate on the basis of six year contracts. The 'external' solicitors dealt with 5,335 Revenue referrals in 2013 and collected €38.3m of outstanding tax debt on behalf of the Exchequer.

Revenue has also confirmed to me that it uses the services of 16 Sheriffs, in addition to the 'external' solicitors to assist in its debt recovery operations. The Sheriffs are not appointed by Revenue and are in fact officers of the Court, holding office under Section 12 of the Court Officers Act, 1945. Their debt collection activities are generally covered by the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1926, (as amended) and the execution of Revenue referrals (warrants) is specifically provided for in Section 960L of the Taxes Consolidated Act 1997, as amended.

The Sheriff is Revenue's preferred enforcement option because it can be quickly activated in comparison to the Courts process and because it is cost effective for the Exchequer, in that all fees/costs are levied on the defaulting taxpayer. The Sheriffs dealt with 28,795 Revenue referrals in 2013 and collected €150.3m of outstanding tax debt on behalf of the Exchequer.

All Revenue debt collection caseworkers operate to very strict guidelines in deploying debt collection/enforcement powers against defaulting taxpayers and the activities of both the Solicitors and Sheriffs are monitored at individual case level to ensure proper procedures are followed in every instance.

Finally, I am happy that Revenue deploys its debt collection/enforcement agents in a very careful and considered way and I commend it for the manner in which it correctly balances the use of such powers between protecting the Exchequer, maintaining a 'level playing field' for the vast majority of taxpayers and working pro-actively with businesses/taxpayers that are willing to engage.

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