Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 21 Mar 2001

Vol. 533 No. 1

Written Answers. - Foot and Mouth Disease.

Ivan Yates

Question:

98 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether it is appropriate that the Revenue Commissioners are still organising seminars throughout the country while many other events are being cancelled due to the foot and mouth crisis; and if he has satisfied himself that there is a consistent policy throughout the public service in this regard. [8342/01]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

The Revenue Commissioners are participating actively, especially through Customs activities, in the national efforts to prevent the disease from coming into this country. In addition, the commissioners are taking all the precautions recommended by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development. Instructions were immediately issued to all local managers in relation to these recommended precautions. Compliance and audit visits to farms and to premises supplying farm inputs were suspended. All non-essential internal meetings and training courses were also suspended. The Revenue board conveyed to all its managers the Government decision that non-essential events involving the bringing together of people from farming communities or from infected areas should be cancelled. This instruction was followed throughout Revenue.

Only in one area did the instructions pose a problem for Revenue in relation to defining whether events were or were not essential. The PAYE system to be operated by employers from April 2001 is radically different from previous years. It involves the introduction of tax credits rather than tax free allowances and the introduction of a nine month tax year – all in all the most fundamental change in the system since its introduction in 1960. There is considerable potential for confusion for employers attempting to operate PAYE for their employees in such a fundamentally different way. A substantial investment had been made by Revenue in a video to assist employers in the operation of the new procedures, but the assessment of the situation on the ground was that employers also needed hands-on guidance if very significant problems were not to emerge. Seminars for businesses for this purpose, which had been arranged for some time, were allowed to proceed except in certain Border areas where it was considered there was a particular potential risk.

Seminars have yet to take place in a number of other venues, including Wexford, where seminars were postponed following discussions locally. These seminars are now being rescheduled. Revenue is satisfied that, while being essential, these seminars will be category one events as defined in the recommendations of the expert group in relation to foot and mouth disease controls published on 14 March. Category one events include gatherings of people in defined locations with no access to agricultural land or susceptible live stock. Provided routine disinfection procedures are adhered to, these events carry a minimal risk of virus spread and should be allowed to proceed.

With regard to consistency of policy throughout the public service, there is a high level committee which meets under the chairmanship of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development which seeks to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the foot and mouth crisis is taken across the public service. My Department complies with any policy guidelines issued by that committee.