Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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206. To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated full year cost of recruiting two additional full-time IT specialists at the grade of assistant principal officer for the Tax Appeals Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6676/21]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Section 20 of the Finance (Tax Appeals) Act 2015, as amended, provides that the staff of the Tax Appeals Commission (TAC) are civil servants and as such their salary is as per the published civil service pay scales. The latest pay scales of civil servants at all grades (including Assistant Principal Officer) are provided at the following link: .

The starting point of the salary of an Assistant Principal Officer is currently €69,012. Therefore the estimated full year cost of recruiting two additional full-time IT specialists at the grade of Assistant Principal Officer for the TAC is €138,024 (excluding employer’s PRSI) or €153,276 (including employer’s PRSI of 11.05%). The estimate assumes that the recruited IT specialists are new entrants to the Civil Service.

The TAC have sanction for 35 staff in 2021, including 7 Appeal Commissioners. The staffing needs of the Tax Appeals Commission are continuously reviewed, taking account of workloads, management priorities and the ongoing need to respond to changing demands.

The TAC currently employs one full-time IT specialist at the grade of Assistant Principal Officer and another at the grade of Higher Executive Officer which, I am informed, meets its current requirements with no need for additional staff in this area.