Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 June 2004
54 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Finance the progress made by his Department and the Revenue Commissioners in their consideration of the recommendations of the Revenue Powers Group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18605/04]
View answerI established the Revenue Powers Group, chaired by Mr. Justice Frank Murphy, to examine Revenue's main statutory powers and report to me on changes needed. As I have pointed out to Deputies in my response to several parliamentary questions over the past few months, I have decided to allow a period for debate and public reflection on the many and varied issues with which the group's report deals. I published the group's report on 4 February 2004 to facilitate this process. With one important exception, I did not implement any of the group's recommendations in the Finance Act 2004. This exception involved a power to allow Revenue to access information held by a non-resident entity over which a domestic financial institution has control, a matter which would have arisen anyway. However, I will review all of the group's recommendations for next year's Finance Bill. In the circumstances, I remain of the view that it is not appropriate to comment now on individual recommendations.
