Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 March 2013
173. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Finance if he will guarantee that the core clerical officers who will now need to be redeployed within or from Revenue, following the recent Conciliation and Arbitration Board decision to allow Revenue outsource to the private sector a contract for call centre work to the value of €4.9 million, will not be required to travel more than 45km from their homes when taking up their new positions. [14792/13]
View answer174. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Finance the number of public sector workers who will need to be redeployed within or from Revenue following the recent Conciliation and Arbitration Board decision to allow Revenue outsource to the private sector a contract for call centre work to the value of €4.9 million; and if the workers will be redeployed within Revenue; and if he will provide a breakdown of the personnel allocated to each grade affected and the total annual pay of the workers affected. [14793/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 173 and 174 together.
I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that no member of their staff is to be redeployed, transferred or moved as a result of the outsourcing of an element of the call service for Local Property Tax (LPT). The use of an external service provider has arisen in the context of additional work associated with the roll out of a new tax. The outsourcing of peak call handling in respect of the LPT will ensure that skilled Revenue staff can continue to provide the necessary customer service to meet their long term, on-going demands and commitments in relation to the strategic priority of maintaining and improving levels of tax and duty compliance.
The €4.9 million figure quoted by the Deputy does not represent the estimate of the cost of the outsourced call centre service. This figure was Revenue's initial estimate of the total cost of providing a telephone call service using both internal and external resources. The nature of the contract is that the external cost will depend on the volume of calls handled, but I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that it is expected to be very much lower than the figure quoted by the Deputy.
The proposal to address the simpler LPT queries through the outsourcing of limited call services offers a flexible, scalable response to an unpredictable demand. It will also provide assurance that the introduction of LPT will not damage Revenue's overall capacity to deliver for the Exchequer and for the Irish people, an important consideration at any time and vital in the current economic circumstances.
