ESTIMATED PAYMENTS to members of the Commission on Taxation of more than €12,000 for a full-day meeting are to be raised in the Dáil by Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton.
“I just do not think that, as a country, we can afford those kind of fees any more,” she said yesterday.
“People on commissions like that should be paid a modest fee and compensated for meals and travel.”
RTÉ, following a Freedom Of Information request, revealed that the chairman of the commission, former head of the Revenue Commissioners Frank Daly, receives €1,000 for every full-day meeting. The other 17 members get €700 each.
In a statement last night, Siptu vice-president Brendan Hayes said he wanted to advise all union members that he received nothing for his services to the commission.
“I am a member of the commission and I was advised of this arrangement,” he said.
“However, I have made it clear to the commission secretariat that I do not wish to receive any money for my involvement in the commission.”
A spokesman for the Department of Finance said the fees were determined by comparison with the levels of remuneration currently paid to civil servants.
The commission was established by Taoiseach Brian Cowen, as then minister for finance, in February of last year. Its remit was to review the structure, efficiency and appropriateness of the Irish taxation system. It is due to report in July.
At the time, Mr Cowen indicated that its work would help to establish the framework within which tax policy would be set for the next decade at least, and that it was important to take a strategic, considered and balanced perspective that recognised the evolving challenges ahead.
Ms Burton said she knew there were members of the commission who would not have sought such a level of fees.
“My guess is that these rates were set by the department and Mr Cowen,” she added.
She said that when Labour was part of the Rainbow government, people serving on commission did not receive those level of fees.
“They got paid for essential travel and for lunch and tea,” said Ms Burton.
“The current rates are an indication of just how far the Department of Finance has departed from reality.”
