Written Answers. - Departmental Staff.
Noel Ahern
Ceist:
116
Mr. N. Ahern
asked the
Minister for Finance
the plans, if any, he has, including staff increases, to deal with the queues in the PAYE tax offices in O'Connell and Cathedral Street, Dublin, which have reached unacceptable levels particularly with summer seasonal workers; the number of callers pending; the average waiting time at each office; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[17091/99]
I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that the central revenue information office which is located in Cathedral Street, is the office in the O'Connell Street area which provides a service for all personal callers regarding all types of tax. PAYE taxpayers, including seasonal workers, account for approximately 87 per cent of callers. In the five month period to the end of May 1999 the CRIO dealt with approximately 90,000 callers. It is anticipated that a total of 200,000 callers will be dealt with during 1999.
The Revenue Commissioners have set customer service standards for dealing with personal callers to their public offices. The standard aimed for is that taxpayers will normally be attended to within ten minutes. However, they also advise that it is not always possible to provide the level of service in their busier offices and particularly at peak business periods.
The following are the percentages of callers dealt with at the CRIO within ten minutes since January 1999: January 76 per cent; February 84 per cent; March 64 per cent; April 66 per cent; May 64 per cent.
The following figures for the two week period ending mid-June 1999 gives details of the overall timescale within which callers were dealt with: under ten minutes 70 per cent; ten-30 minutes 20 per cent; over 30 minutes 10 per cent.
The nature of the tax system, and the PAYE system in particular, is such that it creates major peaks of work within tax offices. Needless to say, tax offices cannot be permanently staffed throughout the year at the level required to deal with these peak periods. Nevertheless, every effort is made with the staff available to increase the numbers providing service during these periods. Despite this, the number of taxpayers calling to offices at peak times is such that it is inevitable that the average waiting period will be higher than at normal times.
In addition, the nature of the work performed at the CRIO is also changing. More taxpayers are now calling to the CRIO in person to inquire about complex matters such as investing in BES, urban renewal schemes, holiday homes, etc. These are areas which would previously have been dealt with through correspondence and require more time to explain to taxpayers that the
more routine work. Furthermore, the partial introduction of tax credits in the 1999 budget has this year added to the number of callers to all revenue offices enquiring about the effect of the changes.
The Revenue Commissioners are continuously reviewing procedures with a view to ensuring that the best possible service is provided to taxpayers. They have made considerable advances in this regard over recent years. Heavy investment in technology has helped greatly in coping with the huge increase in business. The commissioners are very conscious of providing the best possible service to their customers. I understand that they are keeping the staffing position under review.
