A dispute between IMPACT and the Revenue Commissioners has held up the allocation of 352 new jobs, Mr Derek Quigley, the Revenue Commissioners chairman, told the inquiry yesterday.
Mr Quigley said that these jobs had been sanctioned by the Department of Finance between February and May, but because IMPACT was unhappy with the number of higher and senior grade posts, the recruitment drive could not begin.
He said the allocation of these extra posts was extremely significant for the Revenue Commissioners, yet IMPACT now intended to ballot its members on strike action.
The chairman made his comments after the IMPACT general secretary, Mr Peter McLoone, called for more investment in resources in the Revenue Commissioners.
Mr McLoone said that the dispute centred on a small number of posts and could be quickly resolved.
Some 277 of the jobs will be allocated to the tax area while the remainder will go to information technology, capital tax and human resources.
At the hearing, Mr McLoone said the union was concerned at the proposals from the Revenue Commissioners to promote people based on merit only.
He said that seniority should be a significant factor in promotions, as part of a drive to attract people to stay in the Civil Service.
Mr Sean Ardagh TD, a member of the committee, suggested this was a very archaic way of looking at promotions.
However, Mr McLoone pointed out that women in particular tended to lose out in competitive promotions.
The chairman, Mr Jim Mitchell, urged the Revenue Commissioners and IMPACT officials to "knock heads together" to clear the way for the new posts.
