Sir, - As a PAYE taxpayer, may I request the provision of an independent intermediary mechanism which could be activated prior to any investigation of a citizen's private bank account.Failure to establish a third-party dimension would, I suggest, cause serious and unnecessary apprehension to many compliant taxpayers. Nobody would suggest that members of the Garda Siochana should be empowered to search a private dwelling without prior acquisition of a legal search warrant. In our understandable anxiety to curb fraud, let us not be tempted to take the first step towards the creation of a totalitarian environment.I trust that a legislative balance can be agreed whereby the more emotionally vulnerable members of society, namely the aged and ill, shall be protected from any threat of violation that might arise from the prospect of unilateral if not arbitrary intrusion into their personal financial accounts.The granting of unbridled powers to Revenue Commissioners without a corresponding regulatory authority would be at variance with our proud tradition of upholding the precious values of human rights and civil liberties. - Yours, etc., T. McCarthy,Goatstown, Co Dublin.