asked the Minister for Finance whether any staff were transferred, permanently or temporarily, from the Estate Duty Office for work in connection with the capital taxation proposals; and, if so, the number of persons and the grades involved.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Office Staff Transfer.
6.
In the Office of the Revenue Commissioners work on taxation proposals is, as a matter of practice, allocated to the branch whose existing functions have the closest affinity to the proposals. In fixing staffing complement for each branch regard is had to the necessity for dealing with taxation proposals as well as administering existing taxes.
Because the estate duty staff was already experienced in the technicalities of capital taxation the new proposals in that field were allocated to them. No officers were transferred from the Estate Duty branch; on the contrary, at critical times, assistance was provided to the officers in it from other areas in the Revenue administration. Since no officers were transferred from the branch, the second part of the question does not arise.
Were any officers transferred from their ordinary Estate Duty Office work to work in connection with the capital taxation proposals?
In the ordinary course of the business of the public services officers who have experience in particular areas of administration are necessarily involved in the drafting of any changes in legislation affecting their area of administration and, of course, that happened in the Estate Duty Office as anywhere else.
May I ask the Minister whether, as a result of the carrying out of work on the capital taxation proposals by members of the Estate Duty Office staff, the work of the Estate Duty Office went into further arrear than that in which it was?
No. I can categorically assert that this is not a fact and I would point out to Deputy Colley, as he must be well aware, that when I was in Opposition I addressed questions from the Opposition benches about the delays in the Estate Duty Office so when I assumed responsibility in the Department of Finance I took steps to ensure that many of the previous delays would be eliminated and one of those steps was making arrangements as and from August, 1973 whereby all new inland revenue affidavits would be assessed provisionally on receipt, as a consequence of which many of the delays which previously arose and which could easily have been avoided have since been prevented. If the Deputy is referring to some recent printed complaints, I would like to say that at least some of those are in respect of the administration of estates where the Estate Duty Office are awaiting information from the people who are making complaints and until such time as the corrective affidavits are filed the finalisation of the estates in question cannot be arranged. The fault does not lie with the Estate Duty Office because the public are now getting a speedier service there than they used to receive.
Are we to take it from what the Minister has said that he is satisfied with the rate at which cases are disposed of in the Estate Duty Office and that there is no shortage of staff to deal with the work?
Mr. Ryan
I am never satisfied if there is any delay on the part of the public service which could be eliminated but I am satisfied that the steps which we took to eliminate previous delays and to anticipate any pressures which might arise and which certainly did arise on the staff of the Estate Duty Office in dealing with the reform of the whole taxation code ensured that the situation would not get worse and, in fact, it has improved a great deal I am glad to say over the last 18 months.
Is the staff at full strength?
There have unfortunately been a number of illnesses and unforeseen retirements and resignations ahead of the normal period but the strength has nonetheless been maintained and now that we are about to get rid of death duties the whole administration of this office will be under far less strain and difficulty than it has been in the past.
What does the Minister consider a reasonable time for the Estate Duty Office to complete its work on any particular case?
The Estate Duty Office completes its work usually within a matter of weeks after receipt of affidavits but where queries arise which require replies from the person who lodged the affidavits, obviously the length of time taken to deal with the matter will depend on the length of time taken by the people to reply to the queries which are presented to them. Many of the complaints that have recently been voiced in public have been made by people who themselves are in default but there is no loss to any individual as a consequence of delays in the Estate Duty Office because interest does not run as long as the handling of a particular administration is in the hands of the Estate Duty Office. It is only when it has left the Estate Duty Office and work requires to be done by others that interest runs.
Would the Minister consider——
The Chair has been very generous in the amount of supplementaries on this question.
I appreciate that but I feel that two and three years on a simple, straightforward case of, say, a £16,000 estate where there is only a widow left is too long.
The Deputy will appreciate that I speak with experience from both sides of the fence. There can be ordinary human delays but the complexity of the death duty laws and the difficulties of valuation and so on can often lead to a situation where you have those lengthy periods of administration. I share with the Deputy a desire to eliminate those and this is one of the reasons why we are eliminating death duties because of the delays and inconveniences and difficulties which are inevitable as long as we retain the old form of estate duty.
Is the Minister taking example from Australia in regard to other taxes?
I prefer to think I am inspired from above rather than below.
Question No. 7.