Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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105. To ask the Minister for Finance the number of additional WTE staff by grade that would be required if the Revenue Commissioners PAYE hotline was operated until 4.30pm between Mondays and Fridays. [45413/23]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised by Revenue that the changing demands of taxpayers and the need to provide an efficient and cost-effective service has resulted in the overall mix and nature of its service channels evolving.

To that end, Revenue provides a full range of online services for taxpayers to manage their tax affairs, including an online communications channel through the MyEnquiriessystem, which are available 24/7, are easy to use and are fully secure.

Revenue currently has a total of 334 staff providing the full range of PAYE services and allocates resources to best meet the demand of the various services required. The current arrangement whereby the phone service is available from 9:30am to 1:30pm each day provides the optimum allocation to deal with the volume of submissions through post and online as well as through the appointment and phone service.

Outside of these hours a recorded message advises callers of the location on the Revenue website of where information of particular relevance to PAYE taxpayers is held including informational videos on a range of topics including how to complete an Income Tax Return. The recorded message also provides information on Revenue’s online ‘myAccount’facility that enables PAYE taxpayers to view and amend their records as well as information of the online ‘MyEnquiries’ portal through which they can securely submit and track the progress of written inquiries.

The model of both the PAYE phone service and online service is carefully monitored and re-calibrated as required and reflects both demand levels from PAYE taxpayers and the need to provide an efficient and cost-effective service.