The Revenue Commissioners has rejected a claim that the decision of a number of experienced staff to move to the private sector in recent months is due to low morale.
A higher-grade inspector, Mr Liam Grimes, who announced on Friday that he is leaving to join Arthur Andersen, is the latest in a number of senior staff with detailed knowledge of specialist areas who have opted to move to the private sector.
Mr Grimes, who worked with the technical services unit at Revenue head office, is considered to be an expert in such complex areas as VAT on leasing and property.
"I am not surprised that many of our best people have been leaving recently," said Mr Joseph Marron, an inspector and member of the executive of the Association of Inspectors of Taxes (AIT). "Morale is lowest amongst our most talented staff. If this continues it will be a case of the last person out turning off the lights."
However, a Revenue spokesman rejected this. "Mobility of staff in an organisation of our size is to be expected but the low numbers of staff moving relative to our size is indicative of the opposite to low morale."
The announcement by Mr Grimes came as Mr Gerry Scannell, another higher-grade inspector, this time with wide experience in the area of liquidations and receivership, was preparing to leave the Revenue for a new position with chartered accountants Farrell Grant Sparks.
Another higher inspector, Ms Lisa Sexton, left recently to join the solicitors firm, Matheson Ormsby Prentice. Ms Sexton is considered to be very experienced and knowledgeable in the area of capital gains tax. A qualified barrister, Ms Eileen Finn, who worked as a higher-grade inspector in the Revenue's prosecutions unit, has left in recent months to join A&L Goodbody.
The Revenue spokesman said it is the nature of the labour market in the currently booming economy which is causing experienced staff to leave. "There is demand for skilled people and these people are leaving because of the packages that are out there and the demand which exists for skilled staff."
The AIT is currently balloting its members on industrial action in a dispute over staffing and promotions. The association claims the corporate sector is not being sufficiently well audited and wants more senior inspectors appointed. It also has differences with senior management over the system which should be used for deciding on promotions.
The Revenue, for its part, claims the corporate sector is more closely monitored than the small and medium-sized business sector. The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, recently told the Dail that proportionately more taxpayers with a turnover exceeding £1 million are audited.
For the top 30 cases settled by the Revenue in 1999, there was a total yield of £25 million, or an average of £800,000 per case. The largest case settled, the details of which did not meet the criteria to warrant publication, was for £3.5 million, Mr McCreevy said.
