Vol. 449 No. 7
204 Mr. E. Byrne asked the Minister for Justice the degree of public accountability in the running and procedures of the Office of the Taxing Master; if public access to proceedings is permissible; if records of procedures and decisions are publicly available; if there is an annual report produced and placed before the Houses of the Oireachtas; and if the Office is subject to the scrutiny of the Public Accounts Committee. [4502/95]
Taxing masters are appointed by the Government and the statutory officers of the High Court. The business of the High Court is a matter for the President of that Court.
The practice and procedure of the office is governed by statute, by judicial decision and by the Rules of the Superior Courts.
The list of cases for hearing before the taxing masters is published daily in the legal diary and proceedings are open to the public. In accordance with practice throughout the courts, records of the proceedings are not made open to the general public.
Having regard to the tripartite separation of powers the courts are independent of the executive and the legislature and as such the office of the taxing master does not make an annual report to the Houses of the Oireachtas. As an office of the High Court it is outside the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General and consequently outside the remit of the Public Accounts Committee.It should be noted that the office of the taxing master has no moneys under its control.
