asked the Minister for Finance if a report that the PAYE offices will be shut to the public from Monday next is correct; if so, if he will instruct them that they must remain available, either face to face or by telephone, to members of the public.
Private Notice Question. - Closure of PAYE Offices.
The report is correct. Because of an unprecedented volume of arrears of correspondence and an exceptionally large number of personal callers to their PAYE offices in recent weeks, the Revenue Commissioners have found it necessary to make a temporary curtailment of service to personal callers from next Monday, 17 December, at certain tax offices.
The offices comprise six Dublin offices which deal with PAYE cases and 13 provincial tax offices. The intention is to concentrate the staff on clearing up the arrears as quickly as possible for the benefit of the large number of taxpayers affected. It is hoped that the curtailment will be of short duration and that any inconvenience to the public will be minimised. Queries by correspondence will continue to be accepted and there will be special arrangements for urgent matters such as refunding tax to unemployed persons and providing the necessary certificates for those commencing employment.
Could the Minister tell the public what the arrangements are for the refunding of tax?
As I have indicated, this problem has arisen because of the backlog which was partly due to the postal strike. Because the Revenue Commissioners are concerned to take account of the rights of people in the two areas I have mentioned—refunding tax to unemployed persons and providing the necessary certificates for those commencing employment—there will be a redeployment of staff within the Revenue Commissioners in the meantime. I should also like to mention that the training programme which has been going on to enable the volume of work to be coped with effectively will be intensified within this period. The intention is that the offices will reopen as soon as possible after Christmas.
Will telephone calls be precluded in this situation?
The understanding is that it will not be possible to deal with telephone calls during the period because of the huge backlog of work. I could give the House some indication of how the backlog has been dealt with over the period. The priority areas are the refunds of tax and the certificates for people commencing employment. Tax collection will not be a priority during this period.
Is one of the reasons for the backlog the fact that people were taken out of the PAYE section and given the job of chasing tax evaders?
No.
Everybody in the civil service knows it. The people who are entitled to money from the Government should be given priority.
(Interruptions.)
Order.
Does this mean that Members of this House cannot even make telephone contact with an inspector of taxes in PAYE?
I am sure that Members of this House, as well as everybody else, will be anxious to ensure that the priority groups referred to——
(Interruptions.)
We are talking about a short-term matter. As soon as we get procedures under way again we will consider the possibility of having tax advisory facilities made available to the public. The more people call the greater the difficulty in dealing with them. I can assure the House and the public that what is being done is being done in the interest of providing an effective service, particularly for those in the categories just mentioned.
People want to call the offices because their assessments are incorrect.