asked the Minister for Finance if he is aware that for a number of hours each day there is only one officer available at the Stamping Office, Dublin Castle, to mark documents presented for assessment of stamp duty; and that as a result members of the public are frequently delayed for periods from half an hour to one hour; and if, in these circumstances, he will ensure that there are not less than two marking officers on duty at all times between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Stamping Office Staff.
12.
Apart from lunch hours, when the volume of business is generally light, two officers are on duty daily at the Marking Office, Dublin Castle. From time to time delays occur but they are occasioned mainly by the attendance of large numbers of callers at peak periods and by the presentation for marking by some callers of a large number of varied documents. Outside peak periods, callers experience little, if any, delay.
13.
asked the Minister for Finance the number of documents stamped in the Stamping Office, Dublin Castle, in the years 1945, 1950, 1955, 1960 and 1963; and if, having regard to the increased volume of business being transacted in that Office, he will increase the staff therein and take steps to eradicate the causes of the many delays experienced by members of the public, and by the legal profession in particular, who have occasion to transact business in that Office.
I regret that from the records available I am not in a position to supply the information which the Deputy requires. To denote the duty on one document it is frequently necessary to impress on it a number of stamps and the records show the number of stamps struck but not the number of documents stamped. The number of stamps struck has shown an upward trend in recent years but, notwithstanding the increase, there has been no undue delay in the stamping of documents except at occasional peak periods. Arrangements are at present being made, however, to introduce an additional stamp impressing machine and it is expected that this will eliminate even the occasional delays which now occur.