Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 January 2022
377. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of officials in each Department that waived a portion of their salary in 2021; the amount of funding saved by the Exchequer for these returns in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1117/22]
View answerSection 483 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, provides for a gift on an annual basis to be made to the Minister for Finance to be applied for any purpose for or towards the cost of which public moneys are provided. Gifts are accepted by the Minister for Finance.
Gifting of salary is a personal matter for individual taxpayers. If an official wishes to gift part of his or her salary, the relevant Department is required to put in place administrative arrangements to facilitate this. The information is not centrally held by my Department.
In any event, I understand that the tax affairs of individual taxpayers cannot be disclosed due to the obligation to protect taxpayer confidentiality as provided for by section 851A of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997. Furthermore, I understand that there are considerations under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in relation to the disclosure of personal data.
However, I understand that some aggregate information in relation to gifting of salary is provided in the Finance Accounts - Audited Financial Statements of the Exchequer, Statement 1.2 Non-Tax Revenue – Current and Capital, which are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and published each year.
